


Kalt Und Dunkel

by Totallyottie99



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: BlackIce, But whatever, Cat and Mouse, Eldritch, Hannibal AU, Human AU, Jack/Pitch - Freeform, M/M, Meh, Mute Sandy, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Possessive Behavior, Tags May Change, asylum AU, detective Bunnymund, doctor nicholas north, eldritch pitch, hannibal ish, im late to the party, insane pitch, jack/sandy - Freeform, janitor jack frost, just friends tho, killer pitch, nurse toothiana, patient baby tooth, patient pitch black, patient sanderson, sex later, why do I write things
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:27:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 44,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25555066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Totallyottie99/pseuds/Totallyottie99
Summary: After acquiring a Job as a janitor on the night shift in the Guardian Asylum for the Criminally insane. Jack frost ends up in a cat and mouse game of sorts with the hospitals most dangerous patient who seems oddly fascinated with him. Will he survive unscathed, or will he be at the mercy of a man who may or may not be entirely human to begin with?
Relationships: Jack Frost/Pitch Black
Comments: 112
Kudos: 351





	1. First Impressions

**Author's Note:**

> (Boy howdy am I late to the fandom on this one. This is technically my first fan fic of an existing work, so please let me know what you think of it in the comments!)

When Jack applied for the job of a night janitor, he wasn’t expecting anything too dangerous. Especially when the place he was applying for ended up being in the local Mental hospital secluded in the deep forest outside of town. ‘The Guardian Hospital for the Criminally in Need’ or as it was nicknamed; ‘the Pole’.

But he badly needed the money, paying for food for his sister and himself had become increasingly hard to do after the sudden death of their parents, and people weren't exactly looking to hire 20 something college dropouts like himself. So hey, at least the pay was good enough to pay for his little apartment and his sister's education. 

Getting used to the schedule had been the hardest part, from 8pm-12am he was expected to wipe down hallways, sanitize bathrooms, the usual janitor stuff. During his first week there he had nearly fallen asleep in the quiet hallways, only to be startled awake by the hearty laughter of the man in charge he could hear down the hall. The Head boss of the place, Nicholas North, A strangely friendly man who was as generous as he was large who was adamant on him staying away from actual patients there during these hours in order not to disturb their rest. He highly valued the best treatment of his patients and often joked with Jack whenever they crossed paths in the halls. The man was almost too jolly for Jack to handle but he didn’t mind. The large man’s energy certainly contrasted with the almost lifeless hospital during these hours despite how he wasn't one for conversation so being left alone was the best he could hope for during his shift.  
Most patients were usually asleep whenever he actually did have to clean around the rooms for one reason or another. Usually because of disorderly commotion or riled up patients that tried to fight with the people trying to help them. It unnerved him slightly how fast he had become used to the chemical smell of the rooms. But he was always an optimist, as his sister would often tease him for, and he did everything he could to make the best of it. He was immensely thankful that North let him listen to music during the long night hours. 

Interestingly enough, he had even befriended one of the patients. A rather small rotund man with dirty blond hair and a childlike face by the Name of Sanderson, or Sandy for short. He was always awake no matter how late Jack came by to clean the halls and always greeted Jack with an infectious smile. In the two months that Jack had worked there, he had never spoken to him but always seemed to easily be understood by Jack. It was mainly in his body language and expressions, the two had especially hit it off when Jack realized he was Mute and, due to certain childhood events he didn’t want to think about, He also knew certain ASL phrases that made communication between them a lot easier. Jack would never forget the look of surprise that quickly turned to joy when he Signed a friendly greeting to the small man. North was equally excited when he found out Jack and Sandy had hit it off so well. Even going so far as to change Jack's rotation so they could spend more time together, saying that it was ‘good for Sandy’ given that he hadn’t really connected with any of the nurses since his hospitalization. He never told Jack why Sandy was in such a place to begin with, but told him not to worry because Sandy was harmless, and that Jack’s conversations with him would do wonders for his rehabilitation process. Jack was just happy that he had someone to converse with during the dark hours. 

Overall, the job was much better than Jack could have ever hoped. Mostly Boring, but bearable given how friendly everyone was. He never said it, but he was actually enjoying the long night hours that gave him time to self reflect. 

That was, until the day a new patient came that shattered the very foundations of what Jack believed in.

……………………………………………..

“Ah Jack Boy! You are in the free time, yes?” 

Jack looked up from where he was mopping up vomit stains to look at his boss. It was always kind of intimidating to look up at North, the man's burly arms seemed to strain under the white doctor's coat he wore, Jack always expected them to rip from the strain whenever the large man moved. His large white beard blended in with the coat almost seamlessly and looked like he was wearing a large hood if Jack squinted hard. Jack smirked mirthfully and leaned against the wall behind him.

“Yeah Mr. North, Just finishing up here. Whats up?”

“Ah, Jack” He tsked in mock irritation. “Just North remembering? We are friends, yes?” Jack waved him off with a wider smirk. Despite North’s insistence on not using formalities, Jack continued to use formalities since politeness had been engraved in him at an early age by his father. That and Jack just liked to tease the man, Both out of playfulness and respect for the older giant who’s broken speech only seemed to add to his charm.

“Anyways, there is big news I need to speak of you about.” A dark shadow overcame his expression that Jack would have missed if he wasn’t looking. This gave him pause. North was very rarely troubled like this, unease began to creep into his gut causing him to shift from foot to foot.  
“What is it North? Did I… Do something wrong?” 

“Not at all!” The large man nervously waved away Jacks question like a bad smell. His eyes furrowed in seriousness again as he looked down at the younger man. 

“In fact Jack, you are of the best janitors we’ve been having in a long time. I just… Wanted to warn you of tonight's rotations.” 

“The rotations? You changed them again?” Jack frowned up at the Doctor who guiltily looked away. They both knew Sandy wouldn’t be happy with the news, especially since Norths had only changed Jack's schedule the week prior so they could spend more time together. 

“Yes, unfortunately. But we need all the hand we get for this one. You are only janitor during this shift now, so…” North stroked his beard nervously, gesturing for Jack to follow him as he turned to walk down the hall. Momentarily forgetting his mop, the smaller man followed quietly behind at a fast pace in order to catch up with the doctors long strides. They walked like that in silence for a moment before North spoke again, his deep voice echoed in the long corridor despite his attempts at whispering. 

“You see, we have getting new patient today. Very dangerous man you see. Made big racket today in hall. I wait till he quiet to get you for clean.” Jack halted momentarily in his stride. _Dangerous? That must mean… _He looked up at the hall they were going down and instantly realized where they were going, mild fear began to creep it’s way into him like ice.__

____

__

Despite how cheery the hospital was most of the time. There was always one specific wing that was simply called ‘The Nightmare Wing’ from what Jack had heard the nurses whisper in the halls, where only the most deranged and untreatable patients were sent. He had been lucky enough to avoid until now since North seemed adamant to keep him in the safest parts of the hospital during work. Jack had suspected this was due to North's soft spot for the younger workers here, himself in particular since the giant knew of his living situation. So North’s words immensely confused and worried him. 

“Dangerous? How so?” 

“I’m sure you have been listening of the news, remember the Boogeyman Murders from two years before?”

Jack sucked in a breath, Of course he remembered. It was probably the most notorious crime of the decade. ‘The Boogeyman Murders’ had been a series of serial killings that had made headlines across the globe. Near fifty people had been found in their homes brutally dismembered and stuffed underneath the very beds they had slept on. Neither Man, woman, or child seemed safe as the killings had no pattern or preference to them. The killer, a man named Pitch Black, had been caught nearly 10 years after the spree began. He had only been caught after a survivor, a young girl named Emily Jane came forward two years ago to testify against him. He refused to speak and had been sent to a mental hospital after being deemed insane by doctors. But why was such a man here? Was North out of his mind? And why was he asking Jack about it? He really didn’t like where this conversation was headed. He looked up, the silence making him realize North was waiting for an answer.

“Yeah, I remember. North… Are you telling me that man’s actually here? Why on earth would you…” 

“Ah, you are thinking me crazy for accepting such a man into my charge, yes?” North turned to put a comforting hand on his shoulder, eyes still clouded with a mix of worry and guilt. “I had gotten a message for, how you say… ‘Request of Transfer’ to here. You know I cannot say the no to ‘lost causes’.”

_‘Cold water entered his lungs as he screamed. Limbs going numb and vision blurred as he looked at the hole in the ice he had made, bubbles trailing up slowly only to be trapped underneath the ice. Eventually all he could see was the moon when the darkness crept in, he looked up pleadingly at it like it could save him. But instead, he grew colder and number until-‘ ___

____

____

Jack blinked back the memory in surprise. Startled at the abruptness of it. North must have seen something in his expression because he immediately put on a more jovial facade.

“You no not need to be the worry! Guards are always outside his door 24/7, you won’t ever be alone with the man. Just do not speak to him and do what you always do.” He gave him a friendly slap on the back that nearly toppled him over with his enthusiasm. Jack couldn’t help but laugh at that, elbowing the larger man back somewhat roughly. Memory temporarily forgotten in the moment.

Eventually, they made their way to one of the only elevators in the building. The rickety shaft complaining loudly on their descent to the infamous hallway. When they exited, Jack couldn’t help but look around warily, since this was his first time down here.

The hall itself was nearly identical to the ward rooms above much to Jack's relief, a friendly shade of green painted the walls as well as a thin red rug lined the hall floor, pictures of trees and landscapes decorated the walls and made the place feel more like a hotel more than a hospital. A mop and bucket already waiting for him outside the elevator doors which he quickly grabbed so he could have something to do with his hands. Only thing Jack could tell was different about the place was the overall atmosphere. It was so thick he could practically feel it prickle at his arms under his blue uniform. North seemed to feel it too based on how tense his shoulders got, he put a  
Guiding hand on his shoulder as he then began to lead him down the dimly lit hall. 

Wait, Dimly lit? Jack looked around at the fluorescent bulbs that lined the walls. No, he observed, not dim, but seemed to get darker the further down the hall they went. 

“Ah, you are wondering about the light, yes? Well… ever since Pitch man arrived, light has not work well. I get them fixed soon though.” He said assuringly. But it did little to help the growing sinking feeling the smaller man felt the further they went in. Oddly enough, most of the patients that inhabited the cells around them were already asleep despite it only being around 9pm. Glancing into one, Jack saw one patient toss and turn like they were in the midst of a nightmare. Their brow was furrowed in pain and sweat soaked into their hair. He shuddered and walked on. 

When they reached the end of the hall, they had reached what Jack had assumed to be a coded closet. The Door was small and inconspicuous with a simple keycode at one side. North entered the pin faster than Jack could register and quickly but gently led him inside. 

Much to the janitor's surprise, it wasn’t a closet at all, and instead seemed to be a large room with what appeared to be a glass observatory in the middle of it, a cell, Jack realized. Two short burly men with red hair were at either side of the only door in the room when North opened it. The room was dark save for a large spotlight overhanging the middle cell. A large oak desk littered with papers and cleaning wipes stood next to the glass where one could sit and safely observe the contents. Jack's eyes trailed over to the glass chamber where, much to his horror, he could see blood splattered along the outside of the glass cell door. Strangely, the spotlight did very little to light up the actual inside of the tank, which seemed clouded in a thick dark haze throughout.

As North and Jack made their way closer to the middle, he couldn’t help but notice how the shadows in the room seemed to move out of the corners of his eyes. No, he thought, he’s just being paranoid, things like that weren’t possible. Distracted, he flinched inwardly when the giant man bent to whisper to him.

“Alright Jack, it seems our ‘friend’.” North spared a cautious glance towards the tank before continuing. “Is a sleeping, I just need you to be wiping of the mess at the door there from earlier. There are wipes and things on table for you to use, we’ll be here so no worry.”

Jack spared a quick reassuring look towards his boss before steeling himself and stepping forward towards the desk. Dragging the mop over with him in case there was any blood on the floor. He didn’t feel brave enough to crouch down by the tank. But then again, he didn’t feel brave at all. Even less so when he felt the innate feeling of being watched.

Grabbing some wipes, he began to scrub at the already dry blood on the door, occasionally peeking inside in hopes of seeing, or not seeing the being inside. His palms felt sweaty, he realized his hands were shaking slightly. Begrudgingly, he wondered why they couldn’t do this themselves. 

Suddenly, he realized with a start that North had said something with an urgent tone. Turning to look, he wasn’t prepared when he heard a deep, raspy voice could be heard from the glass.

“My my, not even a hello? How rude of you to not introduce our new guest North.”

Whipping around, Jack inhaled sharply as a man seemed to step Outside of the shadows.  
He was tall, taller than he had looked in his photos. His long torso was bent forward slightly, slender arms clasped behind his back as he seemed to glide across the floor towards Jack. He was wearing a standard white patient uniform with black pants, his hair was neatly slicked back and seemed almost gelled. In his hurry to backpedal, Jack ended up hitting the corner of the desk harshly with his hip. The man chuckled at that, the noise drawing Jack to look up and make eye contact. 

Blue eyes met silvery gold ones. Jack felt pierced by the gaze, a cleaning wipe still clutched in a surprised hand.

_‘The bubbles gathered underneath the ice, Just as trapped as he was in that moment under the ice. Cold water seeped into him with pins and needles that both hurt and numbed him.-‘ ___

____

____

The man seemed to take Jack in slowly, both parties just observing one another in a strange suspended moment. The fragile time bubble broke when large hands suddenly pulled Jack back from the glass and behind a broad torso.

Looking up, Jack winced when he saw North’s face. He was more furious than the young man had ever seen him. Cold fury could be seen in his eyes as he and the man in the cell assessed on another.

“You promised you would be the good behavior for my friend.” North’s voice trembled with untold anger, one hand still firmly grabbing and holding Jack behind him. He craned his head around to keep observing the ashen man in the glass cell. Silver eyes caught his again for a moment before a small unnatural grin crossed his face. 

“Good behavior is rewarded for good manners. Or do I need to… ‘remind’ you?” 

“...Fine.” North gritted his teeth before stepping to the side slightly to give the man a better view of Jack. 

“This is Jack Frost, one of our Janitors, he is good friend of me so no funny business.”

“I see, Well then Jack…” The man said, leaning forward in a way that made Jack feel like the glass wasn’t there. He swore he could see the shadows move again around them. What the hell is going on?

“I am Pitch Black, It is an honor to make your acquaintance. I believe we will be seeing more of one another in the near future.”

After a moment of hesitation, Jack nodded politely in greeting. Much to his dismay Pitch’s grin grew sharper at the gesture. 

“If I may, I would like to remind you that the glass still needs cleaning. Don’t worry, I don’t bite.” Pitch’s eyes flicked back to Norths before continuing. 

“At least, Not yet.”

_Well shit. ___


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack does something unexpected, Pitch and North continue to have a stand off and we finally see Sandy! (Next chapter will most likely focus on Jack's home life with his sister.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment and tell me what you think of this chapter!

The rest of the time Jack had spent in that dark room went about as well as you’d probably expect. 

As he went about cleaning up the blood in relative silence, Pitch had simply stood in the same position he had been in when he had first emerged from the shadows. Simply observing both Jack and North with an almost predatory intensity. North seemed even more on edge now and stood a few feet from the younger, almost like a bodyguard. Pitch made the occasional snide comment to North in attempts to rile the giant up further. _Pretentious. _From what Jack could tell, it seemed to be working. Secretly, he was just glad the man had chosen to ignore him for the time being.__

__When he had finished cleaning up the rest of the mess by giving it a final wipe down (wisely keeping his mouth shut against the questions that threatened to bubble out of him), he couldn’t help but tune into the next verbal jab Pitch seemed to be poking the doctor with._ _

__“This is quite the dreadful little room is it not? You couldn’t put me in a room with even a single window to the outside? At least change these horribly sappy paintings you seem to be so fond of.”_ _

__Jack hated to admit it, but he sort of agreed with the man. The paintings that lined the walls depicted what could only be described as ‘stock images’ of cutesy images one might find in a child's room, not in a professional hospital like this. Motivational posters, baby animals, and one photo of a cartoon moon with a smiley face lined the dimly lit walls. Jack had to bite back a grin at that, even his sister’s room had more class in regards to posters. The man’s comment seemed to hit a mark with North, who crossed his arms and frowned._ _

__“We have not been of expecting use of room for some time. Used to be lounge long time ago.If you have preference we be more than happy to take you into the consideration.”_ _

__Pitch sighed in irritation but didn’t bother to respond, finally unclasping one of his hands to bring them around to pinch the ridge of his nose with ridiculously long fingers. Jack felt himself flinch at the sudden movement, the man had been so eerily still earlier he wasn’t sure he even saw his chest move to breathe._ _

__“A lounge? Really? I’ve been moved to an actual storage closet? You insult me North, even the previous establishment I was at had the decency to give me an actual room. Bunnymund must have had a hand in this embarrassment.”_ _

__“That ‘establishment’ was incredibly ill-equipped to be of handling you. They be of practically begging me to take you in despite what bunny man say. We be more than capable of that I assuring you.”_ _

__“Handling?” Pitch’s eyes seemed to glint in cold rage. A snarl revealing long, almost fang-like teeth behind thin lips. Jack swore he could see shadows begin to almost stretch towards North in that moment from the tank, the large man didn’t seem to notice or care for it as he stewed in his hatred. Jack’s hands started shaking again, why were his eyes playing tricks on him now? Was it because he was nervous?_ _

__“I am not some child North, don’t you dare compare me to the rest of those sniveling worms in your care. It seems you really do need to be reminded of who I am, was the nurse I attacked earlier not enough for you to get the picture yet?” Pitch raised up to his full height, the overhead light began flickering erratically. Jack could hear the two guards at the door behind him shift nervously. The mood was so tense now, Jack clutched the mop tightly in an effort not to end up bolting for the door. Despite how he knew Pitch was safely secured in the tank, he couldn’t help but feel like something bad was going to happen._ _

__“Tell me North, will you have nightmares later tonight? The guilt of what you let me do to that nurse must be eating at you. Or maybe I could also play a bit with your little janitor-”_ _

__“THAT’S ENOUGH!”_ _

__The giant's voice boomed throughout the room. Jack’s heart jumped into his throat when he looked to the left of North, he saw a long shadow seemingly stretch out to touch the large doctor. A tendril. A memory flashed through his head of a scene in some nature documentary he watched with his sister where an octopus reached out and grabbed an unsuspecting fish. His mouth opened uselessly to warn North. _Why couldn’t he see it?_ _ _

____It seemed that the two men had forgotten that Jack was even there and were in yet another staring contest, North staring down Pitch in an attempt to assert dominance while the darker of the two seemed to be watching North with both amusement and something else. _He’s waiting. _Jack suddenly realized. He seems to be anticipating something, but what? Slowly, a smirk replaced the deranged scowl in Pitch’s face and the shadow seemed to lunge for North’s head. With a speed and strength he didn’t realize he possessed, Jack had grabbed one of Norths large hands with both arms and pulled him to the side just enough for the tendril to miss its mark, merely brushing past the doctors ear, it jerked still a moment before retracting in what Jack felt was surprise. _He had moved without realizing it? _Whatever tension that had been in the air was now gone, leaving only the usual staleness the room had before._____ _ _ _

________North looked down at his employee in surprise, mild concern in his eyes. But Jack was currently looking in the direction the shadow had retreated to at the base of the tank and didn’t see his face, hands still around North’s in a death grip._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Jack boy! So sorry, I be forgetting you be here. You are done cleaning now yes? Here.” North reached down and grabbed a key card out of his pocket. The usual smile that went across the doctor's face confirmed Jack’s suspicions that the man didn’t see the weird shadow. _I really am going crazy… _Pushing aside how shaken he felt, he smiled casually up at the man, careful not to give anything he was feeling away as he let go of his arm.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Y-yeah, I just finished up, is it alright if I go finish the rest of my shift upstairs?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Ah, sure thing! I'm sure Sandy be waiting. Come, I walk you.” North moved quickly around Jack to wait by the two guards who were currently getting the door open. But he didn’t move to make his escape just yet. Instead, he managed a glance over to Pitch, and sharply inhaled at what he saw. fear dropping into his stomach like a block of ice._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________In stark contrast to how arrogant the man came off as before, now he seemed to be openly staring at Jack with an unreadable expression. His unnatural eyes were wide, pupils so dilated they almost appeared black in the dim lighting. His lips were parted slightly and his arms had yet again disappeared behind his back. Jack froze when he realized what the expression was; It was surprise. Had he… seen what Jack saved North from? Did he know he saw that weird shadow thing? _No, that’s impossible. Then again, this whole night has been pretty crazy. _He thought, staring up at the man before turning away when the intensity of the gaze became too much. It was like… when Pitch looked at him like that, it was like he wanted something from him. Slightly shuddering, he nodded politely in farewell before turning, trying his best not to speed walk over to North in an attempt not to appear as weak as he felt, But he nearly tripped over his own feet when the man spoke again in a low voice;___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Not even a farewell North? You‘ve certainly changed since the last time we’ve had the pleasure of meeting.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“I be coming back in a while, it be best you get comfortable for evaluation later.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________The door had finally opened much to Jack’s relief. The loud beep of the alarmed door making his ears ring. He could still feel Pitch’s eyes on him, the sensation made his skin crawl involuntarily. Jack spared a glance at the two guards, their faces seemed pale and one of them was visibly shaking. _At least i’m not the only one who feels scared shit less. _Jack thought as the door began closing behind them, but not before he heard Pitch speak again. _Fucker seems to really like having the last word. _______ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“Ta ta North, Jack, pleasant dreams.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Pitch chuckled at what Jack felt was an inside joke of some kind, the door closing with an audible bang and clicking as it locked behind them. North’s shoulders seemed to sag with relief once Pitch was out of sight. But Jack remained tense until they returned to the elevator, the feeling of hungry eyes looking into him continuing long after leaving the strange man's presence.  
…………………………………………………………._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“Ah, that was intense yes? It seems Pitch man has taken liking to us.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“That's what the guys like when he likes somebody!?” Jack asked incredulously. Eyebrow raised in suspicion. _The man looked like he wanted to eat you, you big idiot! _____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“Yes, apparently Pitch not well known for conversation. Rarely talk to nurses in last hospital he in. When I visit Manny friend we make many small talk, that must be why Manny send him here.” North stroked his massive beard, lost in thought._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________From what he told Jack, ‘Manny’ was the boss of the Mental hospital that Pitch was apparently from. The two had a deep friendship and North would often visit the man on the weekends. The two had apparently really hit it off in their college years and often shared medical notes and advice on tough patients. Jack had no idea what the man looked like since he seemed to hate having his picture taken. Around them, the elevator rolled to a jerky stop and opened up to more familiar hallways._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“What you mean is, Manny dropped him off at your door as soon as he had a valid reason to.” North frowned at this, but both men knew how North just couldn’t say no to the man. Jack sighed, annoyed both at North for being to easily manipulated and at Manny for taking advantage of such a trusting man._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“Sorry North, I didn’t mean anything by that. Just… Be more careful, that guys not normal.” Rubbing the back of his head, Jack walked ahead of the large man in the elevator to begin making his way over to his cleaning tools he left in the hallway earlier. Behind him, North sighed sadly and followed suit._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“Is alright Jack, You right. Perhaps I’ve been to easy on Manny… But you no worry your head about my troubles!” He laughed, now walking alongside Jack who looked wearily up at him. He couldn’t help but worry. Despite how large the man was, Jack couldn’t help but feel anxious whenever the giant got roped into one of Manny’s schemes. North continued;_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“Anyway, Don’t you be having somewhere to be? I know Sandy man’s probably waiting for you.” Jack’s anxiety relieved slightly at the thought of seeing his friend. He’s definitely gotta hear about what North’s got himself into this time. He grinned eagerly, imagining what Sandy’s reaction would be. _For a man so quiet, he sure loved to gossip. _____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________“See ya later Mr. North. I’ll tell Sandy you said hi.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________………………………………………………………….._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________Making his way down the familiar route, he found himself at Sandy’s ‘room’ in no time at all. Said man was still awake, as usual, and greeted Jack with his usual warm smile. Jack grinned back before sitting cross legged on the floor across from him. Unlike the large fish tank they stuck Pitch in, the standard cells were partially glass with a bar door attached. Inside, Jack could see Sandy’s room, equipped with a small mattress, toilet, and tiled floor. The only thing setting it apart from the other cells were the childlike pictures, which almost completely covered the walls in no seen pattern, only thing left uncovered was the tiny barred window that was too high for the tiny man to reach. From Jack’s angle on the floor, he could see a sliver of moon before he quickly turned away from it with a frown. Not wanting to ruin the visit with his friend with old memories that threatened to resurface for the upteenth time._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________When Jack settled on the floor, Sandy practically hopped down from where he was sitting on the bed to mirror his friend. Sitting directly across from him in the same position. Smiling, Jack moved his hands up to begin signing his greeting._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________'Hello Sandy, how’d things go today?' _The small man beamed at Jack before eagerly moving his hands so fast Jack could barely keep up.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________'Good! North visited and a nurse gave me some sweets. Now you’re here!' ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________'It’s good to see you too, tonight’s been…' _Jack hesitated a moment, unsure if he should tell the small man about Pitch. Sandy seemed to realize Jack was holding back, a small smile on his face as he signed back slowly.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________________'Bad day? North gave you a bad job again?' ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________________'No, Just… There’s a new patient, down there.' _Jack pointed downwards, both men frowned at this. Jack knew from North that Sandy had been down there for a while when he first arrived. A lot of the newer patients were placed down there before they were determined to be a threat to others or not, He didn’t exactly… enjoy it.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________________'Bad patient?' ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________________'Yeah, scared North and I when we got there. Very dangerous guy.' _Jack watched Sandy frown at that, he was easily upset whenever something bad happened to Jack or North. He remembered the time he came in spouting a bruised arm from where he accidentally slammed into a door knob. It took a good twenty minutes of Jack convincing the small man he was alright before he returned to his unusual cheery self.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________________________'You okay Jack?' ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________________________'Yeah, promise.' _Sandy smiled, concern now forgotten. The two began their usual small talk. He showed Jack a drawing he did that day of a snowflake, pointing back and forth from the doodle to Jack before he realized what he was trying to say.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________________________'That’s me?' ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________________________'Yes, Frost, like you.' ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________________________________'Clever.' ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________________________Sandy clapped happily at that, standing up to tape it back to the wall with the others. Jack stood after checking one of the clocks on the hallway wall, his shift was already nearing its end._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________________________________'Thanks for chatting with me Sandy, I gotta go now but I’ll see you tomorrow night.' ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________________________________'Usual time?' ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________________________________'Yeah, You don’t have to stay awake though.' _The blond shook his head at that, a strange look crossed his face.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________________________________________'I don’t mind, I need to stay awake. Need to make sure everyone dreams.' ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________________________________“Okay…” Jack stretched, grabbing his tools and getting ready to call it a night. Sandy says strange things like that sometimes, but it didn’t bother Jack since his strangeness was overruled by his incredibly affectionate nature. _Comes with the job I guess. _____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________________________________________'Goodnight Sandman.' ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________________________________________'Goodnight Jack, pleasant dreams.' ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________________________________Jack froze at that, the harmless phrase reminding him of the eerily similar one Pitch said earlier to him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________________________________'Ta ta North, Jack, pleasant dreams.'_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________________________________Jack felt goosebumps rise on his arms, but shrugged it off as a harmless coincidence before giving Sandy a friendly wave and turning to leave. Already fighting off sleep as he walked out to change and get his things, not realizing the hallway shadows were a tad longer than they should have been._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


	3. Curiosity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We finally get to see Jack's sister! Also a bit of Sandy POV at the end there. next chapter will have more Pitch/Jack interactions.

When Jack finally makes it back to his apartment, he ends up collapsing into his bed with a groan. Not only was he sore from the walk back down the hill into town, but he was emotionally drained as well. 

It was probably about 2-3 in the morning now, not that he cared enough to check. Kicking off his shoes, he turns on his side in a lazy attempt to pull the blanket out from under him as he immediately starts to drift off. Not noticing that the shadows made by the moonlight sneaking in through the closed curtain seemed to reach towards him.  
……………………………………………………………

Unsurprisingly, he ended up having a nightmare that night.

It wasn’t really uncommon for him on nights like this, whenever he was… ‘reminded’ of the night he almost drowned as a kid. But tonight was unusually vivid, even for him. It starts out as usual. He is under the ice once more, the bubbles of precious air escaping him to huddle together under the frozen surface. The only light to be seen came from the full moon’s beams that seemed to weakly reach for him as he sank to the bottom of the lake. He wasn’t really scared though, he had had the nightmare far too often to be as afraid as he used to be when they began. But he still couldn’t help but struggle uselessly, Simply going through the memory of the dream like usual. His limbs weren’t numb like when it had happened, but they still tingled with the memory of it.

Suddenly, he felt the urge to look down at the approaching darkness of the lake, something he had never done before and never wanted to do again. It was like looking into a dark void, the dream lake was impossibly deep and vast. He felt himself sink into it slowly, the darkness seeming to wrap itself around him just like-

Jack felt his first real stab of panic. Breaking out of his sleep trance and becoming more aware of himself, he began to struggle for real. The darkness’s grip only seemed to drag him even further into itself. He couldn’t even see the moon anymore, nothing could be made out in the inky blackness.

“How interesting, It seems North’s little janitor has some darkness in him after all.”

That voice…

Turning wildly in the water, Jack saw two silvery eyes gleaming at him in the dark like twin stars, which were accompanied by a smile of sharp white teeth, Just like a sharks. The teeth parted to release a deep throaty laugh that shook the water around him, reverberating through his very bones. Much to his horror, he feels the darkness start to seep into him, searching through his very soul under the hungry gaze of the inhuman thing before him.

Then he screams.

…………………………………………………………………………………

Jack bolts upright in his bed, desperately trying to catch his breath as he sat there drenched in sweat. Slowly, he became more aware of himself and his surroundings, registering the old blue bed sheets and sheep sewn onto it the more he wakes up. Finally calming down enough when he saw the beginning rays of sunlight through his window. The nightmare he had escaped was now starting to blur in his memory, which helped him shrug it off as an aftermath of a stressful night, he got up on shaky legs to start making breakfast. He was still tired, looking at the wall clock confirmed that he only got 4 hours of sleep. But he could always take a nap later when his sister Mary went to school.

Making his way through the small hall into the open counter kitchen, he grabbed a frying pan and some eggs to make her favorite omelets. Taking a mental note to stop by the grocery store on his way back from work tonight when he saw the nearly empty milk carton. The shuffling of feet behind him was his only warning before he felt a heady object collide with him from behind. He expertly avoided dropping the pan and spun around to confront his attacker. Mary looked up at him sleepily, her hair was basically a large brown rat nest and he patted it down in a fruitless attempt to smooth it out. She grinned up at him in response, revealing a toothy grin that helped him forget his night terrors.

“Sup Goldilocks, want some eggs?” Jack teased, ruffling her hair once more before nudging her towards the table so he could finish. Mary yawned, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes before sitting unceremoniously at the table. 

“Yes Brother, I crave the young chicken. Feed me before misfortune befalls you.”

“Always so dramatic, here.” Jack slid half of the now-cooked eggs into her plate before putting the rest on another for himself. They ate in relative silence, both were too tired to talk this early comfortably. But it wasn’t long before Mary’s mischievous nature replenished enough for banter. Smugly waiting for Jack to have a mouthful of instant coffee before making her move.

“Did that Sand guy flirt with you again at work?”

Her words seemed to have its desired effect when Jack spewed drink all over the table, his attempts as a rebuttal were thwarted with his sputtering. Jack’s face tinted pink in embarrassment when his sister started laughing. 

“W-what the heck?! Where did you ever get an idea like that?”

“Well, he’s all you usually talk about when you tell me about work, and from what you’ve told me it seems like the guy really likes you.”

“I talk about him because he’s a good friend!”

“Uh-huh, sure. It doesn’t have to do with his ‘cute curly hair’ and ‘great personality’ right?”

“Mary!” Jack was bright red now, Thoroughly embarrassed. Mary seemed unbothered, giving her half-brother a smug grin before getting up to put her plate in the sink, turning to get ready for school. 

“Also, don’t forget to get some sleep today, you look like shit.” 

“Mary, Language!” Jacks scolding only got him more laughter from the other room. Sighing, he slumped down in his chair, his fatigue coming back in one large wave.

“Honestly, what the hell are they teaching her in that school?” He grumbled to himself, rubbing sleep out of his eyes before taking another swig of his remaining coffee. Groaning, he leaned his head back to rest on the chair a moment before Mary poked her head round the corner, Waving a farewell to him before leaving for school. He waved half-heartidly back before getting back up to return to his room. Hopefully he can convince his brain to turn off for a few hours before Mary comes home and he leaves for work. 

Hopefully, he wont have any nightmares again in the meantime. 

…………………………………………………………………………………….

Stifling a yawn, Jack returned to the Hospital that night with very little sleep. Any attempts to nap he had that day were met with restlessness and frustration. When Mary came back that afternoon from classes she practically ordered him to go lay down while she made dinner. For a twelve year old, she was very bossy. 

It wasn’t till he began wiping down the windows in one of the many hallways that he felt like something was off. The muffled cries and moans of patients seemed louder than usual tonight, it seemed like they were all in the throes of some sort of nightmare, the ones that were awake looked hollowly at Jack with dark circles under their eyes as he walked by their cells. They didn’t even seem to register he was even there when he tried to greet them.

Even North seemed a bit out of it when he saw him about an hour into his shift. The giants usual jolly attitude, while still present, seemed to be dampened with his apparent exhaustion. North’s smile seemed forced when Jack greeted him as he walked into the office for his break.

“Evening Jack-boy, how be your day?”

“You okay North? You look exhausted…” The giant laughed mirthlessly at Jacks concern, stroking his long beard as he considered the boy in front of him.

“Things could be better. I not sleep well last night, that and Pitch man be nothing but, how you say… fickle.”

“Fickle?” Jack couldn’t help but laugh at that, not surprised that Pitch seemed pretty keen on being petty. From what he’d seen of the man yesterday he could tell he really enjoyed irritating North whenever he got the chance. 

“Yes, he be making impossible demands of me. Manny must be of spoiling him when he was there…Now my usual patient comforts not be enough for him.” Jack only grunted in response, not at all surprised that Manny was the cause of this given his apparent luxurious hospital setup. He’d seen pictures of the place and it looks like a freaking mansion compared to here. Jack wondered silently why they would send such a notorious killer to a hospital that comfortable in the first place. 

“Well, you know you can always say no to him right? Remember, he’s a killer…” North visibly flinched at the word, waving Jacks words away with a burly arm.

“Jack, you know I no like that word, every patient here be deserving a chance of rehabilitation, yes?”

“...Yeah.” Jack didn’t have the heart nor energy to remind his boss the dangers of forgetting how dangerous some of his patients could be, especially Pitch. He knew North, despite what Jack could guess happened with the nurse yesterday, he’d still try to treat Pitch like any other of his patients.

Jack was about ready to leave Norths office and continue with his night when North stopped him by clearing his throat.

“Ah, almost forget, I need you to go down there again tonight.”

“W-what? Why?” Jack couldn’t help but sputter in disbelief, turning around to meet North’s quilt ridden face. The larger man refused to make eye contact with him and wrung his hands together anxiously.

“Sorry, we need cleaning of floor in there, today one of the guards spill his coffee this afternoon. You met him last time.”

“That’s besides the point North! Why couldn’t you get another janitor to do it? Noon was hours ago!” 

“We try. I sent Jamie down earlier, but…” North trailed off, a shadow crossing over his face. Jack knew that look quite well by now. It usually meant a staff member got attacked.

“Let me guess, Pitch verbally harassed the guy.”

“...Not just that Jack. He…” North shuddered. “He read the boy like a book, told Jamie his whole life story after only few minutes in room with him. Left crying…” 

The two men stood in silence at that statement. Jack didn’t know Jamie that well since they were on different shifts, but he seemed like a real sweet kid, having only taken the job to pay for his college classes. He saddened at the thought of Jamie being treated badly.

“I’m sorry to hear that North, but that still doesn’t explain why I have to go down there, couldn’t one of the two guards do it? Why wait for me?” 

“They refuse to leave their stations under Bunny mans orders, say it’s too dangerous to leave posts to grab napkins.”

“That’s a bit of overkill.”

“I agree, but when I go to clean it… Pitch stopped me, he say to wait for you. Say he prefer you do it.”

“Wait.” Jack paled at that statement, the memory of his nightmare turning him cold. “You’re telling me that Pitch WANTS me to come back down? Are you crazy? No way!” At his protest, North looked at him sadly with what Jack read as his attempt at puppy-dog eyes. He could feel his resolve weakening much to his frustration. 

“Please Jack. I don’t know why, but he seems to tolerate you at the least. If you do this it would be very helpful in this. We need him to being trusting of us.” Opening his hands in mock surrender, North looked at him expectantly. 

He didn’t want to, Like REALLY didn’t want to. The way the Man looked at him yesterday after the weird shadow incident, not to mention his nightmare left him feeling like running for the hills was his best option. He could tell North to shove it, get someone else who’s more qualified to do it. But underneath his fear he felt another darker emotion that surprised him in its clarity; Curiosity. He couldn’t help the questions that bubbled up in him after the events of yesterday. What was up with those strange shadows that tried to attack North? He would have written it off as his paranoid imagination if it wasn’t for Pitch’s reaction to him afterwards. He supposed that if anything, him going down there would be a good opportunity to see of he was correct to assume that Pitch saw it too and get some answers from the guy. That is, if he was even brave enough to ask him about it. 

Quickly weighing out the pros and cons in his mind, he came to the conclusion that it was probably in his best interest to confirm if what he saw yesterday was an illusion or not. 

“Fine, I’ll go.”

Norths face broke out into a relieved grin. Quickly getting up to give Jack a strong handshake that nearly lifted the smaller man off the ground. He only released Jacks hand to reach into his lab coat and grab the same key card he saw the man had yesterday.   
“Here be card for door. You don’t need code I put in so no worry. Guards know you so they open door if it no work.” The large man hurriedly ushered a now confused Jack out of his office into the hallway. The smaller man turned to see North beginning to close the door on him.

“W-wait, you’re not coming?”

“Ah, No, sorry.” Guilt riddled the older mans face again before he continued. “I have much work to do. Bunny man’s coming tomorrow so I must follow proper protocol and email my reports to him. But you be fine! Be in and out of room in no time.” 

“Hold on! You never said that you-” The click of the closed door cut him off in his protests. Jack stood there slack-jawed for a moment, North was definitely acting weird. He’d never pressured Jack to do something like this before. He gave the man the benefit of the doubt and decided it was because of the stressful day North had yesterday. It was understandable he’d be worried about protocol, given the nurse that Pitch attacked yesterday, but if anything, that would make him more stressed about Jacks well-being, wouldn't it? He pushed the thought aside for now, deciding it was best just to go along with it for now and berate his boss when he was in a better mood. 

Taking a moment to prepare himself, he pocketed the key card and made his way to the elevator that led down below. Feeling a lot like he was sinking into the same abyss of his dream the further down it went.  
……………………………………………………………………..

Sandy knew something was wrong with this place when he fell asleep that morning.

Ever since the dark one arrived below yesterday, his friends have been hurting. Even now, all around him he could hear his neighboring cell mates cry out in their sleep, their distress apparent as they struggled with their nightmares. Despite Sandy’s best efforts, he was simply too weak to fend off the monster that had been causing this suffering. The only good thing to occur was when he sensed his friend’s presence in the building when he arrived for work. He knew his friend would make him feel better once he was able to visit him. That feeling of happiness only seemed to grow when he felt that even though his friend was also touched by the dark, he wasn’t nearly as harmed as the others here. An excited grin plastered his face at the thought of Jack. Yes, his friend was strong, special. He was just like him, just like the thing downstairs even. 

He was a very important boy, one who was touched by both the moon and the water, his shock white hair and ice blue eyes made that fact very clear. Sandy’s grin slowly turned into a worried frown the more he thought about it however. Despite everything, the boy still didn’t realize just how important he was, not yet anyway. Sandy knew it was only a matter of time before the dark one downstairs realized that fact as well, he shuddered at the thought.

Looking up at the moon from his small cell window. Sandy decided that no matter what, he would do anything in his power to protect his friend should the darkness try anything. But in the meantime, he would draw as he waited for the Frost to arrive. He could even warn him, he knew if anyone could, his friend would be able to believe him.

Yes, he had the whole night to wait for his friend. Smiling, he began drawing the familiar snowflake pattern Jack seemed to like once more, it was a good distraction that kept his mind away from the horrible thing down below at least.

He only hoped Jack didn't do anything foolish in the meantime.


	4. Satisfaction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pitch and Jack realize some things, also some Pitch POV in the second half! Mentions of Bunnymund and Sandy. Please leave a comment and tell me what you think!  
> (Next chapter will probably introduce both Nurse Tooth and Detective Bunnymund)

When the elevator doors finally opened, Jack began to seriously reconsider agreeing to Norths request.

The hallway air was thick with tension, he could practically hear the pounding of blood in his ears It was that quiet. Somehow, the lights were even darker than they were yesterday. Going further into the hallway with only his light footsteps for company, he saw that the same inmates that were sleeping roughly the night before were all either cowering in their cells or staring blankly at the walls. He couldn’t decide if it was better or worse than them just crying out in their sleep. 

Pulling out the key card, he quickly swiped it with a shaking hand when he reached the end of the hall. Silently berating himself for not being able to control his nerves. The loud beep of the door startled him enough to stop his shaking thankfully, and with a deep breath, he pulled the heavy door open. A gust of wind being sucked into the room with him. 

The two guards from yesterday, (comically named Giggler and Dingle from what Jack could see from their conveniently worn name tags) stood up from where they were leaning against the wall and eyed Jack warily. They seemed to have just as much trouble sleeping as everyone else in the hospital did considering the heavy shadows under their eyes. Both of them placed a hand on the batons that were holstered on their sides at the sight of him. Smiling with as much confidence he could muster, he showed them the key card and hoped they recognized him from yesterday. After a moment where he could see the gears turning in their heads, they looked at each other a moment before nodding at him in greeting. It seems that he got the okay to continue.

Looking around, he easily spotted the large brown stain from the now dried coffee, a good portion of which ended up on the side of the tank the ‘patient’ was located in. With a sigh, he pulled out some cleaning wipes from one of his uniform pockets before finally glancing at the tank. It was still completely shrouded in that weird dark fog from yesterday, making it near impossible to view the inner contents, let alone the man who resided within. But Jack had a feeling Pitch could see him just fine, given that the odd feeling of being watched was back. He had a feeling the man enjoyed this, seeing people glance nervously around the cell in an attempt to see him. But Jack was tired, too tired to play along with this weird game of his. Having only a few hours of sleep can change what would normally be nervousness to irritation. So, with much bravado, he intentionally avoided looking at the cell and simply went to work. Ignoring the nervousness that prickled under his skin at having his back turned on something so dangerous.

When he was about done with cleaning the floor, he looked up in time to hear the two guards yelp in surprise, looking just behind where Jack was. A deep rumble of laughter confirmed to him that Pitch had revealed himself just behind him. But instead of turning immediately around like he wanted to do, he stood up slowly, craning his head around to see the same looming figure as yesterday eyeing the two guards hungrily. Jack would have felt scared too if not for the self-gratifying grin that was plastered on the criminals face. He looked so impressed with his little appearing stunt it just left Jack feeling irritated and, with a grumble, he turned fully to face the man of his nightmare head on.

“Ya know, it’s rude to scare people like that.” 

The gasps Giggler and Dingle made at Jacks rebuttal were of surprise and horror, clearly unused to hearing anyone speak to Pitch in that way before. The man in question however only seemed amused at the statement, eyeing Jack with curiosity before slightly bowing his head.

“My apologies, I've been known to be rather quiet on my feet. I didn’t intend to startle you.” The words were dripping with sarcasm, making Jack suppress the urge to roll his eyes. It was clear that the man loved to scare people. Not waiting for a response, Pitch straightened back up to his full height. Jack noticed that where yesterday the man was wearing the standard white uniform, today he was wearing a dark grey shirt with black pants. It must have been another attempt of Norths to make the man more comfortable, Jack mused. Seeming to read his thoughts, Pitch followed Jack’s gaze and brought a hand up to present his new uniform.

“Like what you see? Not my first pick mind you, but certainly better than that horrendous garb they had me wear yesterday. Doctor North was so kind as to give me clothes which better suited me. Wouldn’t you agree?” He had that hungry look in his eyes again when he looked up at Jack, it was clear he wanted his approval for some reason. Jack shrugged, stepping forward slightly to better regard the man, not noticing how Pitch watched his every move with growing hunger. 

“Yeah, I guess so…” Sharp teeth glinted at him in satisfaction before Pitch glided closer to the glass separating them. His height made him practically tower over the smaller man. Jack would have backed away at that if not for noticing the shadows moving once again just out of his field of vision, freezing him in place. Pitched observed him for a moment, his strangely colored eyes looking him over in thought before he took one step back. Allowing Jack to breathe again. He turned to look at the guards for some form of assurance, but they were too busy whispering to one another nervously to be of any help at the moment. The younger man wondered if their huddling at the door was a sign of them being on guard or cowardly. A chuckle from Pitch had him turning back around, flinching at the sudden closeness of the mans face near the glass at Jacks eye level. 

“How strange you are Jack, You don’t seem nearly as scared as those two oafs over there despite not being around me nearly as long. Why is that?” Being this close, Jack could make out just the tiniest furrowing of the mans eyebrows, smile now gone. He seemed to genuinely be confused at Jacks seeming indifference. 

“I… I guess I’m just better at hiding it.” This earned another chuckle from the man. Jack was surprised to find himself relieved at the noise, it was better than the weird muffled silence of this place. 

“Such honesty… If the other janitor was like that I would have been more polite, But…” Another flash of teeth. “I’m afraid I was too hungry from my travels to control my temper as of late.” Jack shuddered.

“Why- What did Jamie do exactly to make you upset?”

“Jamie? Ah yes, that was his name wasn’t it? He simply irritated me, Sniveled a lot and cried easily, I could barely tolerate it.” Finally turning away from Jack, Pitch seemed to observe the darkness behind him before turning back with an excited grin. Thin tendrils stretched languidly behind him from the dark, Jack took a step back at the sight, already knowing from yesterday that they were not a good sign. At the sign of his retreat, Pitch’s mouth opened slightly, the same look he had yesterday returned tenfold. When he looked back up at Jack, his eyes were almost black with their intensity. The shadows behind him moved with the same eagerness that Jack was sure the older man was feeling. Some of them even caressed the glass like they were solid. He practically purred when he spoke again;

“Tell me Jack, what do you see that is frightening you so?” 

The rooms tension was palpable, Jack held his breath in fear of breaking the moment. It wasn’t possible, right? There’s no way the shadows were… real. He refused to voice this, both in fear at what Pitch would do as well as what the Guards would tell North if they heard him screaming about shadows. The most likely thing to happen would be North forcing him to take some time off, something he couldn’t afford if he wanted to keep buying food for Mary.

“N-nothing much, you're just… Very intimidating.” He looked away from Pitch in order to avoid giving away his half truth. But Pitchs face told him he knew he wasn’t being entirely honest. A clearing of the throat from a guard behind him told him he was starting to overstay his welcome in the chamber. Pitch snapped his head up at the noise, anger practically radiating off of him at being interrupted. But Jack wasn’t going to stay any longer than was necessary and, with a turn of his heel, began quickly making his way to the door that led back up the stairs.

As the guards were working to get the door open, which was something that seemed more difficult to do than it was on the outside. Jack froze at the feeling of something impossibly cold pressing down on his shoulder. Turning to look, Jack shrieked when he saw that a large tendril of shadow had started wrapping itself around his arm. Quickly, before the guards could turn to see, he stepped away from it and frantically whacked it off his shoulder. Once he realized what he just did, he glanced back at Pitch who had his hands pressed against the glass in front of him. The way he looked at Jack in that moment was something that would stick with him for days afterwards; It was a look of revelation. 

“You can see it, Can’t you?” 

The hopeful way the words were said was too much for Jack to handle. He had no idea what to make of any of this, so many questions had filtered through his head in the few seconds it took for the door to open that it made his head spin. But at least one question was answered with Pitchs last question: 

Jack wasn’t going crazy.

At the sound of the door opening, He took one look behind him at the man before bolting for the elevator.

………………………………………………………………………..

Pitch wasn’t a fool, he knew there was something strange about the boy from the very beginning.

From his unusual snow white hair to his piercing blue eyes, He certainly looked like he didn’t belong in this dismal place. The very atmosphere around him was strange too, Ever since he first saw him enter his chamber yesterday when he was shrouded in shadow, the feeling of his piercing eyes glancing over him when he searched him out in the dark sent shivers down the murderers spine. Never before had such a reaction occurred outside of hunting down victims, especially not to that intensity in all his long years of being. Pitch barely glanced away from the boy when North reluctantly introduced Jack to him. His interest only increased when he attempted to mess with his new doctors mind a little bit, only to be pleasantly surprised when Jack pulled the man out of the way. He grew even more invested when he visited the boys dream that night, it was clear that Jack was traumatized from a near death experience of his childhood. But there was something about the way Jack wasn’t scared of the nightmare that had Pitch becoming involved in it out of curiosity. Even if it was an older nightmare, most humans had some sense of fear when they had them. The fact that the boy merely floated listlessly in the water with very little struggle was certainly strange. The way Jack looked up at the moon in the dream made Pitch feel strange, making him pull the boy away from it to get the usual fear response. It was satisfying, much more so than any of the prisoners here he ended up feeding off of. 

Yes, he hasn’t been this entertained since Bunnymund had first started hunting him down all those years ago. Pitch smiled at the memory, Bunnymund had been an ambitious young man at the time, his insight into the darkest parts of humanity amused Pitch greatly. But for all his intelligence, the young detective couldn’t capture Pitch. It wasn’t to the fault of the young man however, it was just the fact that Bunnymund thought Pitch was human that always left him ten steps behind. The only reason Bunnymund was able to catch him was because Pitch turned himself in willingly, he had grown bored of his spree and allowed himself to be imprisoned on a whim. Initially, he had simply wanted to bide his time until the detective was lulled into a false sense of security before he made his escape (He could still leave at any time mind you, he just didn’t really feel like leaving just yet. Hospitals like this bred such delicious varieties of fears that Pitch worried he was beginning to spoil himself.) The thought of how the detectives fear would taste when he realized Pitch was gone was too delicious an opportunity to pass up. 

But in the meantime, he had entertained himself at the first institution he was in by driving enough of the patients insane with nightmares that Doctor Lunar had begged one of his gullible colleagues to transfer Pitch over to them. Bunnymund had apparently put up one hell of a fight against it but ‘Manny’ (as was his nickname) remained adamant that the safety of his hospital took top priority. But Pitch knew the truth, he tasted his fears quite often and knew the man was just afraid of being another victim of his. But in truth, the man wasn’t even the slightest bit interesting, his fears were stale and unoriginal. 

He was rather upset the day he was transferred here, the security guards Bunnymund assigned were boorish and incredibly rude to him, one of them even tried to take a picture of him for some inane website. When that Nurse tried administering a sedative that was his last straw. Norths face after he shredded her arm with his teeth tasted more divine than the coppery blood did. Strangely, he wasn’t punished for the deed, in fact, it seems his new strangely jolly host would go to great lengths to keep him ‘happy’. For what purpose he could only guess at.

Yes, this was a rather strange hospital. From the dumb and dumber duo guarding him, the obnoxiously sappy doctor in charge of this place, to the strangely interesting janitor. He couldn’t tell for sure, but he swore he could even feel a faint presence of a being like him in this place. But whoever it was was either incredibly weak, or really good at hiding themselves from him by suppressing their power. But he wasn’t one who was known to share his toys, instead flaunting his power and spreading his influence throughout the whole hospital, Reveling in the feeling of control over those who resided within, the Other’s weak attempts to thwart him were hilarious. The only ones he didn’t touch were mostly those who went to their own homes by the end of the day, since his influence either didn’t reach that far, or he wasn’t interested enough to attach a part of himself to them to follow them home like he did with Jack. 

It wasn’t till today that he realized just how deep his newfound interest towards the boy went.

When he came in that night, not only did he blatantly ignore him until he was done with his task, he rebuked his banter with some of his own. That was interesting in and of of itself considering the other humans here either recoiled in fear or ignored him. But that wasn’t Pitchs ultimate goal for that night. No, he wanted to confirm if the boy truly could see him, or if the incident from yesterday was just a coincidence. When he released his hold on only a tiny fraction of his bottomless power, the Boy reacted almost immediately to it. Confirming Pitchs suspicions, and apparently Jack’s as well. Since the boy seemed just as curious about him as he was. He was even able to not only see the extensions of his shadow, but touch them as well, something not even Pitch was able to predict. The warmth of Jacks hand as he swatted him away from his shoulder was a feeling he hadn’t felt enough of in his long life to be able to put a word to. 

So now, here he was, lying under the cheap looking bed frame that has been provided for him, surrounded by his shadows that hid him from onlookers, when he felt the faint pull of the Other here. It was like a small tugging at his brain that called for his attention above him incessantly in such a pitiful display of power Pitch decided to respond out of pity. Jack had left the building a while ago so he was bored enough to strike at least some form of conversation.

-‘Who are you?’-

-‘I’ll be asking the questions here Brother.’- He made sure to put just enough of his influence behind the thought that he was sure it would give the Other a headache later.

-‘I am called Sandy. Who are you?’- Pitch considered the reply, it was both honest in it’s response, but also bold in repeating the same question as before.

-‘Very well, I am called Pitch. What do you want?’-

-‘You know Jack.’- It wasn’t a question.

-‘Yes.’-

-‘Leave the boy alone.’- 

That gave Pitch pause, the request was with a more powerful pull than the others, confirming his theory that this ‘Sandy’ was holding back their power. But that only made him chuckle darkly. Beings like him, or at least the ones that he’s come across, were very territorial and almost always became engaged in fights that only ended when one consumed the other. He himself had consumed countless of them, he revealed as much to the Other when he quickly released even more of his power to exude his strength. The two guards didn’t so much as get to blink before they crumpled onto the floor, already in a deep enough sleep that he knew they wouldn’t remember any of the nightmares that now plagued them. He pulled his influence back just as quickly, just enough to send a ripple through the hospital for the Other to feel. 

-‘Make me.’-

-‘No need for display. No need for fight here Brother.’- The plea was evident in the thought, the concern for the humans that were just affected reverberated through Pitch’s ribs in a way that made him itch.

-‘That's better. Now tell me, why I shouldn't play with the janitor?’-

-‘...’-

Silence. Probably the worst response he could have gotten, his irritation grew at the Other. They weren't just holding back their power, but their knowledge as well. He practically hissed in his fury. The Other seemed to sense his rage, they mentally retracted enough to the extent that their words seemed like a whisper.

-‘Jack is… Like us, but not like us.’-

What the hell did that mean? Before he could respond, the Other repeated their plea one final time before severing from him completely in yet another subtle display of power:

-‘Leave the boy alone.’-

Then silence.

Pitch sat there for a long while, just staring at the bed frame above him as he stewed in his thoughts. Faintly, he was aware of the two dimwits coming to, not even bothering to invict more fear from them. Did he want to fight the Other? Not really… he was far too comfortable in his current position to openly challenge a Brother he knew very little about. That and he wanted to at least be here tomorrow when his favorite Detective came to visit. Not to mention… 

He made up his mind. For now, He’d simply observe the boy and the Other, converse every now and then as this place can get terribly dull. Perhaps even gain their trust if he played his cards right.

He’ll decide after Bunnymund leaves if he’ll eat them or not.


	5. Deal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introducing Detective Bunnymund! Another interaction with Pitch that leads to an unexpected agreement. Jack will probably want to quit his job now.  
> (This chapters a bit longer than usual, yay :) )

One of the perks of being a janitor, in Jacks opinion at least, is that people tended to leave you alone. 

Aside From North, not many of the nurses or doctors who worked at the hospital really looked at him, let alone even talked to him. He supposed that this was due to how cleaner workers were normally ignored in society, but he found he didn’t really mind it. Most of the doctors were too tired to engage in any real conversation and all the nurses were too stuck up to interact with him outside of the occasional sneer and whispering behind his back when they thought he couldn’t hear them. During the first few nights he was here, the nurses usually asked him about his strangely white hair and if he dyed it to be that way or not. No one believed that it was natural, so sometimes he tended to wear an approved form of hat or hood to avoid the stares he’d get otherwise. 

Especially if the hospital was more crowded than usual due to a new and dangerous patient.

The next night he arrived into work was after the weekend off, it just happened to be one of those nights that nurses would stay behind to gossip with one another before going home. Apparently, from what Jack could hear, Bunnymund had moved his arrival to the hospital to that night to visit Pitch and check in on how he was being ‘handled’. Jack had hoped he would avoid the man since he didn’t work weekends, but it seemed the powers that be just really seemed to hate him lately. It wasn’t that Jack hated Bunnymund, they had never even met before. It’s just that the last time he had to deal with detectives had been when he was a child after he nearly drowned. The cold alienated way they looked at his altered appearance in the hospital bed had always stuck with him well into adulthood. He knew, given what he had heard about the detective, that he would probably look at him the same way.

After hearing from North when he came into work that night that the detective would be arriving soon, he decided it was probably best to wear his blue hooded jacket. It was getting colder at night anyways.

Due to how infamous the detective was for being the one to ‘capture’ Pitch, more nurses than usual were there that night in the hopes of seeing him. Making Jack ultimately glad he decided on the jacket. His hair safely hidden away from the prying eyes of those whose faces he couldn’t really recognize given the difference in their usual working hours.

Currently, He had just finished cleaning out one of the empty patient rooms in preparation for a new one coming in tomorrow when he heard the tell-tale sound of Norths footsteps out in the hallway. Poking his head out, He saw the man in question looking rather flustered and apparently in a hurry. When he was about to call out in greeting, he saw a slim looking man maneuver his way to walk in front of the doctor. Jack recognized him from the photos, it was the detective himself.  
Seeing Jack, North subtly signaled for him to come out to greet the visitor. After taking a moment to pull his hood up and brace himself, he stepped out into the open hallway.

“Jack! So glad you being here at this moment. This is Detective Bunny. Bunny, this be Frost boy I be telling you about.” Jack snickered a bit at the nickname, not going unnoticed by the man in question. Detective Bunnymund, or ‘Bunny’ as Jack was now absolutely sure to call him, was a late twenties/early thirties looking man, with large bushy eyebrows and dark grey hair with light grey streaks that looked almost blue in the low fluorescent lighting. He had a gruff looking face that spoke of all the horrible cases he had probably seen in his career, his 5’o clock shadow didn’t help with his rather scary appearance either. When Jack briefly made eye contact, he saw that his eyes were a vibrant green. The man in question rubbed the back of his head wearily, sizing Jack up before bringing his hand out in greeting.

“Jack Frost? I’ve heard that you had to deal with Pitch several times now. I apologize, I should have fought Manny harder to keep him where he was.” Jack met his hand in a firm handshake, the olderman’s intense gaze making Jack avert his eyes.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it. It’s all part of the job.” 

“I see.” He clearly wanted to ask Jack more, But a wayward glance towards the giant in front of them told Jack he’d probably wait until they didn’t have an audience to do so. 

During the conversation, North had led them to the end of the hall that housed the elevator. Jack grimaced, it seemed that he was being herded into going back down there for some reason again. North noticed his hesitation before seeming to realize what he was doing.

“Ah, so sorry Jack. I did not mean for you to do this again but we-”

“I heard that Pitch has spoken to you the most so far here. I want you to be there while I talk to him.” Bunnymund glanced out the corner of his eye at Jack as he spoke, curiosity evident in his gaze. Jack shuddered inwardly when the man openly stared at a few locks of his hair that managed to escape. Thankfully, he didn't say anything, and instead turned back to North. Who was currently hitting the elevator button to let them down to the lower levels. 

“North… As much as I appreciate this job. I’m just a janitor, I’m nowhere near qualified to deal with him so why do you keep throwing me in there with Pitch?”

The two older men exchanged a look, understanding flickered between them and Jack couldn't help but wonder if the two men had already talked about him before he got there. Meanwhile, the elevator dinged to a stop, its old and rickety doors opening haphazardly. Jack winced at the noise, the thing was like a death trap waiting to happen.

“Well, I would agree that while North’s methods have been… unconventional.” Bunnymund emphasized with a pointed look towards the man in question. “There's no denying the fact that Pitch is actually talking to you. He never… Well, let’s just say it took awhile for him to even greet me whenever I visited. Even longer for him to talk to North whenever he visited there. Look, what i'm trying to say is; we could use all the help we can get on this. I know you’re probably uncomfortable with it, but it’ll only be for a little while. At least long enough to get him to finally agree to an interview.”  
With that, he stepped into the elevator with North. With both men looking at him expectantly, Jack felt helpless to refuse. He wanted to be angry, heck, he had every reason to be. North couldn’t keep doing this to him, using him and letting Pitch practically devour him with his eyes every chance he got. Not to mention, the murderer had known Jack saw the strange shadow, could he control it? It so, it meant he probably wasn’t human, But what could Jack do about it? If he even gave any indication that he saw something like that, he’d be locked up, and his sister would be all alone. He would rather deal with whatever magic fuckery Pitch was than let his sister be alone again. So, with a heavy sigh and a glance back down the hall to apparent freedom, he squeezed into the elevator next to the detective and doctor. The rusted trap doors slamming shut so forcibly it made him flinch.

……………………………………………………………

The elevator was, evidently, not made for three people.

Jack was awkwardly crammed between North and the detective during the slow descent. It’s creaking and shuddering movements made the smaller man almost weep with joy once they finally opened up into the nightmare wing. The fervent relief he saw in Bunnymund's eyes when he quickly followed behind him into the hall made it clear the detective felt the same way. As Jack leaned against one of the walls to steel his shaking legs, the detective turned to an apologetic looking North.

“There's no way that thing is up to code North. How the hell did you even get Pitch down here?”

“So sorry, it be nothing short of a miracle worker. It not failing me yet though!” North slapped the metal death trap for emphasis, the reverberating echo doing nothing to assuage Jack’s nerves about having to go back in it later. 

Bunnymund sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in apparent exasperation. Jack couldn't blame him though. North was well known to make the best of things, as well as almost never refurbishing broken things if they are still ‘usable’. Absently, Jack noted how the hallway itself was completely dark. The overhead fluorescent lights weakly flickering in an attempt to light the place.

“Hey North, didn’t you say you would replace these lights the other day?”

“Ah, yes. I be meaning to, but…” North pulled out a flashlight from his coat, the sudden beam of light making Jack turn away. “Light company not be coming for much time. So need being of torches and candles.” 

Bunnymund huffed a breath of disbelief at that, it was becoming more and more apparent to Jack that the detective didn’t believe North to be competent at all at his job. Granted, things have been pretty shitty lately, but that didn’t mean the man was a terrible doctor. The way North kept trying to laugh off Bunnymund's critiquing of the place wasn’t helping either. 

They walked the rest of the way to Pitch’s ‘room’ in relative silence. North led the way with the light while Jack trailed regretfully behind the two men in the dark. He couldn’t help but duck his head down to hide in the hood when the detective kept stealing glances back at him, like he was expecting him to ask him something. Jack scoffed at the thought of asking the man for an autograph if that's what he was waiting for. He couldn’t help but grin when the detective flinched at the noise of the door opening, Jack was surprised at how quickly he got used to how loud it was.

Stepping into the room was like stepping underwater, whatever weirdness pitch had going on, it seemed to be entirely condensed within the room. A quick look at the tank showed the usual blackness that obscured its resident from view. Jack noticed how the two guards from the last time he was there were spouting bruises on their faces. One of them, (Giggler from what Jack remembered, though he could be wrong since the men were practically identical) had a nasty shiner over his left cheek. Upon seeing Jack staring, gave him a weak thumbs up which Jack returned in kind. 

“This is where you’ve been keeping him Doctor?” Bunnymund murmured to North, his eyes never leaving the tank in front of them. “It’s a miracle he hasn’t escaped yet.”

North, clearly offended, turned to reply when a familiar chuckle ruptured from the room. Rendering him silent, everyone's attention turned to the source of the sound. Pitch emerged from the shadows, his tall and creepily still figure stood regal under the failing light above. His hands once again hidden behind his back.

“Now, isn’t this a lovely surprise! It’s been quite a while now detective, how has fame been treating you?” Pitch tilted his head at that last part like a bird. Jack was already familiar enough with the man to read the sarcasm in his tone. Bunnymund must have caught it too, his shoulders tensed up in growing anger.

“If you’re asking about my job Pitch, it’s going just fine. Things have been much better now that you’ve been caught.” 

“Oh, this?” Pitch glanced about the room as though seeing it for the first time. “You know as well as I do that the only reason I'm still here is because I want to be. I can leave any time I chose”

“We’ll see about that.”

“Indeed.” 

Pitch, apparently having gotten what he wanted out of the detective, now turned his gaze to Jack. Who seemed to be attempting to quietly hide from his sight behind the doctor in the shadows. Pitch couldn’t help but grin at the childish behavior, though he couldn’t help but be pleased the boy came back after his last visit, not many humans would remain near him once getting a hint of his power. He was considerably more brave than he gave him credit for.

“Jack, I’m pleased to see I didn’t scare you off just yet.” Jack could practically hear the purr in the mans voice. The shadows once again curled behind him in the tank slowly. Jack would be lying if he said he hadn’t been scared shitless last time. He didn’t even visit Sandy afterwards, simply finished his tasks quickly and practically jogged the whole way home. But a weekend away from the hospital and a rather fun weekend with his sister had emboldened him. Sure, Pitch was probably possessed or controlling a weird shadow monster. But Jack thought it over and felt that despite the dread he felt when it went to touch North that one time, it didn’t really seem to pose a threat to him just yet. Even if it was real, he still needed this job and as soon as Pitch decided that Jack was a threat, he’d grab his sister and run for the hills. But that didn’t mean that he’d let himself be another one of Pitch’s verbal punching bags. Which is probably why Jack felt the need to retaliate.

“Well, I wouldn’t say I came back because of your charming personality.” 

“You find me charming?” 

“I find you irritating.” 

Stunned silence fell over the room, North and Bunnymund visibly tensed at what Jack said while the two guards gasped in shock. Bunnymund glared at Jack behind him while North looked ready to defend him from any coming onslaught. But what got Jacks attention was the way Pitch himself reacted. His face went slack for a fraction of a second before he tilted back his head, booming laughter reverberated throughout the room, shaking Jacks chest with its power.

“Indeed, I will admit that our last meeting was a bit… peculiar. But make no mistake Jack, You may find me unfavorable currently. But I guarantee that will change.” He flashed his teeth in a mirthful grin at Jack before his view was obscured by the doctor stepping in the way.

“Nevermind that now Pitch. Me needing you to talk to Bunny man now for report.” North waved the detective over to the desk next to the tank, sitting with an audible creak onto the tiny chair as he got ready to write down Pitch’s evaluation notes, turning on the tiny desk light that flickered weakly. Bunnymund followed behind, shooting a glance over to Jack that told him to remain where he was. Jack sighed, deciding to lean against the wall for the moment to watch what was about to happen. He had been present for Patient evaluations before with Sandy a few times, they were pretty redundant and only asked surface level questions like ‘Are you happy here?’ and ‘Do you have any personal requests during your stay?’. As well as a slew of personal information, they were going to be here for a while. After Jack got as comfortable as he could get on the cold stone, he looked back up only to flinch when he noticed Pitch staring at him again in that weird owlish way of his. Jack crossed his arms, daring to glare back at the man who only grinned wider at the display. While North was too preoccupied with his notes to notice, Bunnymund did, a quick glance back at Jack had him ducking his head down, hoping it was too dark to see his face.

Throughout the interview, North and Bunnymund worked as a team to get as much information out of Pitch as they could. Which wasn’t much, apparently, Pitch’s background was as shrouded in darkness as the room was. No family, home, he said very little throughout the interview about himself. Seemingly content to let the Detective stew in his growing anger and spare an amused glance over at where Jack was lounging. He swore he even saw the man wink at one point, but that was just a trick of the light, right?

It was only when they got around to the murders that Pitch became more invested in the conversation. 

“Let’s see, You’ve killed about fifty people during your spree, mostly families. Is there any new information you'd be willing to tell us now?”

“Asking me incriminating statements without a lawyer present ‘Bunny’? My, you’ve certainly changed.”

“Don’t call me Bunny Pitch. Answer the question” The detective all but growled at the killer, glaring down at the doctor who pretended he didn’t notice it. Jack chuckled quietly at that, ‘Bunny’ was definitely going to stick to the detective from now on. Pitch’s head snapped back to look at Jack, a pleased look rippled over his face before it returned to its usual smirk. If Jack hadn’t been looking he would have missed it. Pitch hummed in thought before turning back to Bunnymund.

“It was more.”

“What?”

“It was much more than fifty Bunny.” 

More silence. North looked up apprehensively at the detective, who was looking at Pitch with dawning horror. Jack also tensed at that, the news articles all clearly stated that Pitch said he only killed fifty people. If there were more, then that meant his case would be reopened to the public, it would cause a resurgence of interest in the man. If what happened the first time he was caught was any given, the people would be in a frenzy. 

“... Are you certain?” 

“I remember every face I've taken Detective.” 

“How do I know you’re not lying?”

“When have you ever known me to lie Detective?”

“Why are you telling me this now? What do you possibly get out of it?” When Pitch only responded with a thin smile, Bunnymund looked just about ready to throttle the man, if the glass wasn’t there he most likely would have. Instead, the detective stood nearly pressed against the glass, his hands clenched so hard they were shaking and his teeth were bared in a grimace. Pitch on the other hand was unfazed, only tilting his head to look down at Bunnymund, no doubt getting great satisfaction out of his reaction. Jack tensed when he saw the shadows curl above the detective like spider legs despite Pitch’s seeming calmness, poised to strike if need be. Jack’s crossed arms tightened as he held himself to keep from yelling a warning to the men, he really didn’t like where this was going.

“Tell me their names.”

“In due time Bunny, but first, perhaps we can make a deal?” 

“You’re in no position to make demands of me Pitch!” 

“Not to you Detective.” Pitch’s eyes flickered over Jack again before settling on North. The doctor sitting upright due to the sudden attention on him.

“... What you be needing?”

“Let’s call it… a trade.” Pitch’s arms came forward, steepling his hands together for emphasis. From the angle he was at, Jack couldn’t see the doctors face, but could tell the man was very nervous. The majority of shadows remained where they were over the detective, but a few curled around the desk where the light couldn’t reach, just barely brushing over Norths legs. Jack fought back the urge to scream.

“Fine, What you give in return for names?”

“Oh, I’ll give you much more than that dear doctor. I’ll even tell you where the bodies are.” Jack heard Bunnymund suck in a breath at that. “But in exchange, I only wish for one small favor.”

“Yes..?”

“I want scheduled Conjugal meetings with Jack Frost.”

Jack looked up at the man with wide eyes, fear began to creep its way into his stomach. Was he serious? He stepped forward from where he was leaning on the wall, about to voice his refusal when Bunnymund glared at him angrily, halting his movements momentarily. It was clear that the detective expected him to agree to this, was he even going to get a say? He looked over at North pleadingly, there was no way he’d just throw him to the wolves like this right? There was no way he wouldn’t ask him his opinion before agreeing to this, right? North didn’t even turn to look at him, his broad shoulders were already hunched in defeat.

“You be promising to be cooperative, yes?”

“You have my word, dear doctor.” North, finally, turned to look at Jack, he looked to be at a loss for words and whatever look was on Jacks face at the moment only deepened his hopeless expression. The older man winced, before turning back to Pitch. Jacks heart stopped.

“And you be agreeing not to harm Jack or anyone during this, yes?”

“I promise to be reasonable.” 

He’s dodging the question! Jack inwardly screamed. He couldn’t believe this.

“I will be holding you to word. If you lie there be consequences.” North’s voice was lower in an attempt to appear intimidating, but Pitch only chuckled. He already knew he was going to get what he wanted.

“I promise, I will give one name after every meeting.”

No! Jack wanted to yell, say No North!

“Then I agree to terms.”

Jack’s jaw dropped, this was actually happening. He was really going to be expected to go through with this… Pitch made eye contact with Jack again in that moment, the smile that crossed his face in that moment reminded Jack of the one he saw in his nightmare after the first time he met the man, the kind of smile that spoke of promises of things to come.

“It’s a deal then.” 

Jack shuddered and, without a backwards glance at the man, ran.


	6. Followed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Geez, Jack can't catch a break can he?   
> Jack confronts North on his poor choices, He and Sandy bond, and he gets a surprise when he gets home.
> 
> Please leave a comment and tell me what you think! I always love reading the comments you guys leave!

“Are you out of your fucking mind!?” 

Jack wasted no time in confronting North later that night once the Detective left. He had all but stormed into the doctors office after hiding in one of the hospital bathrooms in an attempt to calm himself down. Only when the coast was clear and the remaining nurses went home did he stomp over there and practically broke the door in his haste to open it. North had been sitting at his large oak desk, one he had decorated with various snowglobes and handmade ‘toys’ he got from patients over the years. He made no move to stand when Jack entered, instead wringing his hands together as he looked up sadly at him. Jack felt bad immediately for yelling at him, but refused to back down as they stared at one another. Finally, North spoke;

“Jack… I know this is bad thing on my part-”

“You’re damn right it is! You know how dangerous it is to give someone like that what they want!”

“But.” North continued, his sad expression slowly turning into an irritated one at being interrupted. “This is big opportunity Jack. Pitch is willing to cooperate! In all times I be seeing him, he has be doing nothing but annoy Manny and I. He has never been so talking before.”

“You’re willing to put me in danger just for that? Cooperation?”

North winced at that, his eyes crinkled beneath his thick eyebrows like he ate something sour. After a moment, he gestured for Jack to sit in the other desk chair in front of him. He didn’t see a reason to refuse, his legs were threatening to collapse out from under him due to his nerves. 

“I know you feel… Manipulated…” The regretful tone the doctor spoke with had Jack looking down at his lap to avoid eye contact. “But please, if we can- I be meaning- If Pitch be telling truth, and there are… More victims, then we would be giving many family much needed closure yes?” 

That was something Jack had thought about as well. Many families out there probably had no idea what happened to their relatives who had gone missing. It made him think of his family, how broken he and Mary had been, and still sort of are with the absence of their parents. He wondered that, if Mary ever went missing, would be feel better or worse knowing what had happened to her. The thought had made him shudder. If Mary was gone, he’d truly be alone in the world.

“I agree with you North, But that still doesn't change the fact that it wasn’t okay for you to agree to that deal without my consent.”

“Yes, I know… But what do you think would happened if I refuse? What do you think Bunny be saying? Or Manny?” North sighed, his shoulders sagging with the invisible weight he held. Jack realized then what North must have felt. He must have felt so much pressure to do the right thing back there. He had Taken on the responsibility of what could be considered to be the most dangerous criminal in captivity. Not only that, but now he had an opportunity to help a lot of people put their loved ones to rest. That, and having Bunnymund breath down his neck to agree to such a rare opportunity couldn’t have been pleasant. Jack’s anger had all but evaporated at the realization, pity beginning to take its place. 

A few darker thoughts at what the Detective’s own thoughts on the matter were began to take residence as well in his mind. It was clear to Jack that the man clearly only had his own interests in mind, perhaps he wanted the promised fame of what would eventually happen once the news of this got out. Perhaps he and North would even get an honorable mention in the news. Jack hoped not, he got enough attention as it was. He mulled over his thoughts for a while, realizing that North was probably waiting for a response.

“...Alright North, I’ll agree to this. But if I’m endangered in any way I'm out, got it?” 

“Yes, Thank you Jack. Truly. No worry, Guards will be outside door at all time.” North all but shook in relief that Jack had agreed. He stood and, with his usual joy finally returning, reached over and firmly shook Jacks hand in both of his own vigorously. He couldn’t help but smile at that, he was also relieved that the Doctor was back to his usual self. But he did well to hide the inner turmoil he still felt within him, not wanting to worry the man. North escorted him to the door with a warm hand on his shoulder. 

“Bunny man wishes us to begin this as soon as being possible.” North paused. “But I only agree to start when you be ready.”

“Thank you North. Um… Would tomorrow be alright? I’d still like to- I mean, I want to Visit Sandy again today.”

“Of course, No worry, I’m sure Bunny man can wait a few more hours.” North winked, closing the door gently. Jack was once again alone with his thoughts and, once the realization of what he had just agreed to sunk in, he held back the urge to cry. He couldn’t help the tears that managed to slide down his cheeks and took a moment to calm himself. His shaking arms wrapping tightly around his midsection as he leaned against a nearby wall. 

“Damn it… Damn it North.”

He was scared, of course he was. For some reason he couldn’t understand, A serial killer wanted to talk to him, wanted to tell him about who knows what. He’d have to be very careful going forward with this, he had to make sure Pitch didn’t get under his skin. But that was proving to be difficult, considering how… ‘charming’ he was. Jack hated to admit that Pitch was right in that regard. The mans voice was hoarse from misuse, but rich and deep like velvet, probably the only thing Jack would allow himself to say he liked about the guy.  
He felt sick at the thought of what was going to happen to him tomorrow. There was also the inevitable discussion of the shadows that they would be having too…

With a deep breath to calm himself, he began making his way over to see what was probably his only real friend in this crazy place.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Sandy was in the middle of drawing something on the floor when Jack finally arrived. He seemed as happy as usual to see him, but Jack noticed the dark bruises that formed under his friends eyes due to lack of sleep. Sandy seemed to sense Jack was in a similar state of exhaustion, neither of them chose to comment on it just yet. Instead, they simply chose to enjoy the quiet small talk for a while longer. Eventually, Jack managed to bring it up in conversation.

“Have you been sleeping okay Sandy?”

The smaller man smiled weakly at him before shaking his head. Jack sighed, brushing his fingers through his hair before signing;

‘You need to sleep buddy. You don’t want to worry North anymore right?’

‘The nightmares are getting worse here. Everyone's getting worse. My fault.’

‘That’s not your fault. The people here…’ Jack paused. ‘They’re here because they need help. North’s helping them. You too, you need sleep to get better.’

Another sad smile.

‘Jack, you’re tired too. I can tell.’

‘Yes, I… I have to do something scary tomorrow.’ 

‘Scary?’ Sandy sat upright at that, worry evident in his face. 

‘Yeah, I have to talk to the new patient, the one I told you about before.’ A dark expression passed over Sandys face as he watched Jack sign. It was worrying to say the least.

‘Jack, I want to tell you something, Warn you.’

‘About what?’

‘That patient… He’s dark.’

An uneasy feeling settled in Jack at Sandys word choice.

‘Yes, his names Pitch Black, how’d you know that?’ 

Sandy looked sad at that for some reason. But before Jack could question it, the smaller man had shuffled closer to the bars. To his surprise, Sandy reached through the bars separating them with an open palm. Jack was under strict instructions never to let any patients grab him during his rounds, but at the pleading look on his friends face he timidly reached out to grab his friends hand. This was probably the first time Sandy had ever touched him as far as he could remember. Sandys hands were small, almost childsized, but incredibly warm against his normally cold palm. The smaller man grasped as much of Jacks hand as he could with both of his before letting go and signing;

‘Please Jack, be careful, Pitch is more dangerous than you know.’

Jack shuddered at the sudden seriousness of the usually childish man, absently rubbing the hand Sandy touched. 

‘You have no idea buddy… But yes, I promise I’ll be careful.’

‘Thank you Jack, I’ll help you anyway I can.’

“Oh no you don’t.” Jack spoke as he stood. “You better go to sleep right now or i’ll have to stay here until you do.” Sandy laughed soundlessly at that, his normal cheer coming back as he waved Jack off and climbed into the thin hospital mattress. After giving a thumbs up to Jack, he curled up and almost immediately passed out.   
…………………………………………………………………..

After waiting a few minutes to make sure he was asleep, Jack made his way over to the designated locker to get ready to leave. There wasn’t much in there, just some spare uniforms, his house keys, cleaning supplies, flashlights, and a few snacks he’d munch on occasionally to keep himself awake. He grabbed some pretzels now, knowing he’d need the fuel for the long walk back home. Thankfully, it was mostly downhill, but it didn’t help that the hospital itself was a secluded place in a pretty dense forest. The only road into town had very few streetlamps and he was lucky he had stuffed a few into his locker in case he ever forgot them at home. 

He grabbed two of them now in case the battery died for some reason. As well as his keys and his phone that he hid along the top shelf so no one would steal it. Once he double checked to make sure he got everything, he made his way over to the front desk to check out. The secretary, a rather scrawny guy named Monty, simply nodded at him before turning back to watch videos on his phone. Jack turned to look outside into the dimly lit parking lot, it had rained earlier, the icy looking puddles told Jack that it would definitely be cold on his way back home.   
So, after zipping up his jacket and holding his stuff tightly in his pockets, he briskly walked out from the warm lobby into the cold fall night.  
………………………………………………………………………….

Jack had a very specific route that he made sure to follow back home. After the parking lot ended was a large gate that separated the hospital from the forest around them. There was a side door next to the gate that could be opened with his keycard and, once he cleared that, he’d have to keep on the small dirt road until the first real street appeared down the road. Before that however, he had three streetlamps to pass under, two of which were broken hence the flashlight. 

As he made his way down the muddy path, he couldn’t help but feel a bit paranoid. Every time he turned back he swore he saw something move in the shadows, it was certainly enough to put a pep in his step until he made it to the road that led into town. He kept telling himself that it was probably a deer or something like that, these woods were famous for them. There was no wind that night, but it didn’t help with the chill he felt that followed him into town. It wasn’t until he finally made it to the front door of his apartment that he actually felt safe. 

When he finally opened the door to his room, he was met with the sight of something standing at the foot of his bed. He nearly had a heart attack before he realized it was Mary. Her eyes were vacant, staring ahead and clutching her favorite stuffed animal in her arms. It was an old Lambchop toy their mom gave to her when she was a baby, affectionately named ‘Lamb’. Jacks heart clenched at the sight of it after so long, he thought Mary had forgotten about it. Gently, he nudged her shoulder to wake her.

“Mary…”

“Mnnuagh?” She mumbled, only waking up enough to look at him, angry at having been woken up. 

“Mary, you’re in my room. Did you sleep walk again?” 

When she was younger, she had been very prone to wander around their house, sometimes even making it outside. She hadn’t done it since their parents died though, so Jack was a bit concerned about it. He’d have to make sure to block off the front door so she didn’t wander out into the street. But for now, he gently began guiding her back to her room across the hall from his. She hugged Lamb to her chest still, not yet awake enough to register she wasn’t asleep.

“Where’s mom?” 

Jacks heart clenched at that, getting flashbacks of the first time he had to tell her they were never coming home. He didn’t want to potentially upset her again when she was sleepwalking though, so decided to play along with whatever dream she was having.

“She’s… at work.” 

“I had a nightmare, I couldn’t find you…” They had reached her bed by then and, with gentle persuasion, he managed to get her to lay back down. He looked over to her nightstand, turning on her moon nightlight to hopefully calm her enough to fall back asleep before sitting on the bed next to her.

“Don’t worry, I’m here now okay? Just go back to sleep.”

“I miss them.”

“Yeah… Me too.” Jack looked over to the nightstand. There, in a well loved blue frame, was a picture of them when they were younger. Jack was holding a then-baby Mary. His hair was still brown then, the accident didn’t happen for another three months after the picture was taken. Their parents were smiling behind them, his father had his hand on his shoulder and looked proud. It hurt to look at it. 

While Jack was reminiscing, Mary had closed her eyes again, snuggling her Lambchop closer to her. It was clear she was about to fall asleep again.

“Jack…”

“Yeah?”

“Who’s that?” 

Confused, he turned to look at her. She was looking over his shoulder into some dark corner of the room. Her eyes were glazed, a sign that she was dreaming again.

“Who’s who?”

“The man behind you.” 

It shouldn’t have creeped Jack out as much as it did considering she was just sleep talking, but given the day he had he couldn’t help but whip his head around to look. Only slightly relieved that there was no one save for a few stuffed animals that were propped up on the wall. But he couldn’t stop the goosebumps that prickled the back of his neck at the thought of not being alone in the house. Mary on the other hand had thankfully fallen asleep after being cryptic. So, without anything else to do, he got up to search the house. He knew he wouldn’t find anything, but it would help him sleep knowing he at least checked. He couldn't tell if the feeling of being watched was because of his parinoia or not.

After thoroughly searching everywhere he could conceivably think of and making sure all the doors and windows were locked, he made his way to bed. He tossed and turned a few times before drifting off into his usual nightmare, not at all looking forward to tomorrow.


	7. Folie a Deux

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Folie a deux= 'Madness shared by two')  
> Jack and Pitch finally address the eldritch elephant in the room.  
> You guys are so nice with your comments! Thank you guys so much for reading this.

Jack woke up several hours later to the smell of burning toast.

He groaned, Figuring that Mary must have tried making breakfast again. A quick glance at the clock told him that she was probably already at school and, with a groan, he got up to access the damage in the kitchen. Massaging his temple from an already increasing headache due to the lack of any decent sleep. For some reason, one of his cheeks stung.

The kitchen was an absolute wreck, dishes were stacked high in the sink, the toaster was somehow on the floor, and he saw several crushed eggs under the table. It was almost comical how extreme his sister could get when she tried to cook, another reason he tended to get up earlier than he probably should given how late he usually gets back from work. Mary’s destruction of the kitchen had only culminated into one measly french toast plate she had left on the table for him. On top of it, covered in syrup, was a sticky note that read;

‘Tried to wake U up, Made UR fav toast. Get some sleep!! XOXO. ‘M’.’ 

That explains the sore cheek, she must have smacked him a few times to try to wake him. At least she was trying. Jack was just happy that she didn’t manage to set anything on fire like last time. He took to cleaning the devastated kitchen before he let himself sit to eat. The toast was already cold, and there were several egg shells and the crust was burnt, but he had to hand it to her since it wasn’t completely burnt. Without the shells it was pretty decent. He was glad his improv cooking lessons with her were finally starting to show.

After breakfast, he looked over to the window to see how he should dress that night. To his surprise, the window was completely frosted over, from what he could see of the street outside it looked like it must have snowed earlier. Mary must have been ecstatic, he only hoped she dressed warm enough for the weather. He decided to wear one of his blue jackets that night with one of his favorite dark blue scarfs. Mary had often teased him for always wearing blue, he admitted that it was pretty weird now that he noticed it. But it wasn’t like he didn’t look good in it. He would even go as far as to say he looked his best in blue, His last partner years ago had even said the color brought out his eyes in a sexy way. 

Jack had never found himself looking at people in a romantic manner, but he wasn’t oblivious, he knew that people found him attractive. Aside from the double takes he usually got, He had often been flirted with during the short time he was in college, but that's about as far as it had usually gotten. After people got over their initial fascination with his unusual appearance, they usually found him too weird to be around. He wasn’t really resentful of it though, he preferred his privacy, another reason why he wasn’t looking forward to tonight. 

Sipping on a freshly made coffee, he finally allowed himself to think about the situation he had found himself in. He felt stuck between a rock and a hard place, nothing good would come of this even if he refused the deal. He could only imagine what Pitch’s goal was outside of enjoying Jack’s distress. Maybe that was the only reason, maybe the killer was just bored. Jack could only hope that Pitch found him entertaining enough to leave him relatively unharmed going forward with this. Jack hated to admit it, but a part of him was curious about the killer as well. Pitch Black wasn’t even the guys real name from what he’d read from news articles, it was just the nickname given to him by police and reporters. The guy really was a mystery; No name, no family history, nothing. That and the weird ‘appendages’ the guy had that only Jack would see. The whole situation was weird, made even stranger by Pitch’s seeming interest in talking to Jack.

Sitting back in his chair, Jack resolved that, whatever happened tonight, he wouldn’t let himself be served up on a metaphorical platter to the guy, He had Mary to think about after all.

He had his own teeth to bite back with if need be.  
………………………………………………………………….

North was waiting for him at the front desk when he walked into work that night. 

Jack had spent the whole day either napping or preparing himself mentally for whatever was going to happen tonight. He might have been overthinking it due to stress, but he couldn’t really help it since he had no idea what to expect.

Jack rubbed his hands together to warm them in the warmth of the lobby. He had been right to wear a scarf, it was incredibly windy that night and the sharp coldness of the late fall air didn’t help one bit. North had been in the midst of talking enthusiastically to the secretary Monty when he walked in, so he had patiently waited until North noticed him to take his coat off. 

“Greetings Jack! I trust you being in good spirit tonight?” The good doctor fretted about Jack like a worried mother and started to blab about today's events. North was rather infamous for being extremely talkative when he was nervous, a look over to a rather tired looking Monty revealed that North had probably talked his ear off while he waited for Jack to show. Jack simply smiled and listened as he walked over to his locker to drop off his things. He debated whether to take his phone with him or not in case he had to call for help, but decided against it at the thought of Pitch’s anger if a phone call interrupted their ‘conversation’. It wasn’t till they neared the elevators that Jack finally spoke up. 

“Detective Bunnymund isn’t going to be here? I figured he would want to see how this went.”

“Ah, He being busy with new case tonight. Very sudden, He said something about ‘Missing teeth’ murderings.” North shuddered inwardly before turning to the now open elevator. Jack followed closely behind. Both men fell silent as the elevator made its slow descent. Jack’s nerves were starting to grow again. 

“Okay, so… what should I be expecting down there?”

“Well... “ North paused. “The guards will be outside door today, they come in should anything be happening. I only walk to door with you for short while then be leaving. Here is key again in case you needing it.” He once again handed over the keycard to Jack, who took it gratefully. He noticed his hands were shaking, so shoved them into the pockets of his jacket to hide it from the doctor.

Once the doors opened, North pulled out an electric lantern from seemingly nowhere beneath his white coat. Jack could see why, the hallway was almost entirely in the dark save for several of the same lanterns North had that were strewn about the place so that the patients could see. But even then, the lamps closest to Pitch’s door were flickering weakly. He had to wonder if it was also due to Pitch’s weird power that the lights had shat themselves. It was another thing he’d have to ask him. Jack glanced into a few of the cells on the way through the hallway and instantly regretted it. The very same patients who had been crying out in their sleep were now completely stoic in their cells. Many of them were either sitting upright of standing, none of them moved or made any noise to indicate they were even alive. But he could feel their eyes follow him in the dark. It unnerved Jack to no end when one of them made eye contact with him and he saw familiar silver eyes look back at him from their sunken face. If North had noticed the rather strange shift in the patient's behavior he made no move to comment on it, so Jack didn’t either.

Giggler and Dingle were standing stoic outside the door as North said they would be. Jack offered a small smile in greeting to the two men that only Giggler returned, apparently he was the nicer of the two. Jack made note of that, it never hurt to make friends in this place.

Once North made friendly greetings to the guards, he pulled out another lantern and handed it to Jack, who took it with a bit of hesitation. 

“Sorry, the light in Pitch mans room be bad too today, don’t be worry, I just put the new batteries in so it be fine.” North said after seeing the skeptical look on Jacks face. He nodded, holding the little light in both hands like it would go out at any second. Giving him a once over, North gave the okay for the guards to open the door. He gave a silent look that told Jack of all the unspoken apologies he wanted to tell him before patting his shoulder. 

This was it, it was his last chance to back out of this madness while he still could.

But he didn’t.

Instead of listening to the voice of reason that was telling him to turn tail and run, he quietly stepped into the dark room with little resistance.   
…………………………………………………………………….

Pitch was waiting for him when he entered the dark room. The light overhead might as well have been out for all the good it was doing. Jack saw that the table had been cleaned of all spare papers or notes North had left out. Instead he saw a short stack of blank papers and a rather blunt looking pencil that must have been left out for him so he could write down the names Pitch would give him. The man in question was all but vibrating with energy as he took Jack in. The tendrils around him curled out from the darkness like curled tree branches. Jack silently wondered if the shape they took was connected to Pitch’s mood.

“Good Evening Jack.”

“Hello Mr.Black.” Jack nodded politely in greeting. Pitch had seemed pleased with his mannerisms before, so he figured it wouldn’t hurt to continue with formalities. That, and his anxiety made him rigid in his speech.

“Please, there is no need for formalities, I believe we are already on a first name basis are we not?” 

“Depends, Pitch isn’t even your real name.” 

Another quick flash of teeth.

“Fair enough, i’d still prefer it if you’d call me Pitch.”

“... Alright.”

The first hurdle of conversation seemed to have gone off without a hitch much to Jack’s relief. Pitch gestured to the table in silent confirmation that Jack could sit down. He did so gratefully, afraid that his shaking legs would give him away. He grabbed the pencil so his hands could have something to do.

“Thank you for coming Jack, I would imagine North wasn’t happy about letting you in here on your own.” Pitch chuckled at that much to Jacks irritation.

“He wasn’t… Particularly fond of it, neither am I.”

“I could imagine.” Pitch tilted his head as he openly stared at Jack, who squirmed at the unwanted attention. “We have lots to discuss, don’t we?”

“Yeah…”

“I suppose I’ll start first then.” Pitch’s tone became serious as he leaned towards the glass. His tall frame gave the illusion that he was looming over Jack. 

“Uh… Okay?” 

Jack yelped in surprise at the feeling of something cold on his cheek. Turning, he saw that a tendril had somehow snuck over to touch him. He recoiled away from it before swatting at it with his hand. When the shadow retreated he glared up at a very amused looking Pitch.

“Don’t touch me.” He hissed at the man. Which had about as much effect as a kittens would, If the delighted laugh that erupted out of the murderer had anything to say about it.

“My apologies, I just had to make sure you could see it.”

“By ‘it’ what exactly do you mean? What are those weird shadow things coming out of you?” The question had finally been said in the open, the taller man looked immensely pleased that Jack had finally addressed the elephant in the room given how his eyes practically glowed in the dark room. Pitch breathed in through his nose before closing his eyes slowly. After a moment, Jack realized that the man had just smelled him through the holes in the glass and was clearly enjoying it. Okay, that was it, he was officially creeped out. He stood up to leave, but the low tenor of Pitch’s voice made him stop dead in his tracks.

“Sit.” 

“No way, not if you’re going to do that again.”

“Apologies, it’s a bit of a habit of mine.” He didn’t sound at all sorry for it, quite the opposite in fact. “As for your question, They are a part of me. They are like projections of myself that I can do with as I please.”

“A part of you? Um… What exactly are you then?” Jack said a bit timidly, unused to such an abnormal conversation.

Pitch straightened at that, pondering his next words.

“I myself am unsure. However, I do know what I can and cannot do.” 

“Hmm.” Jack mulled that over a bit, he didn’t know if it was better or worse that Pitch couldn’t, or wouldn’t even define himself, he was probably lying if anything. His thoughts were once again interrupted by Pitch, who was probably unhappy at being temporarily ignored.

“How long have you been able to see?” 

“See you? Uh, ever since that first day I came down and you were going to hurt North. What were you going to do to him?” 

“That's not what I meant dear Jack.” Pitch ignored the other part of his question blatantly. Jack didn’t know if the endearment was on purpose or not, but it still made him uncomfortable. “What I mean is; How long have you been able to see the Other?”

“The ‘Other’? Is that what it’s called?”

“It’s what I choose to call it.”

Weird.

“Uh… I don’t know. You’re the only one I think.”

“Interesting. I’m your first then.” Pitch all but purred. Jack fidgeted with the pencil to ignore the weird feeling the hinted double meaning of the words left him with. 

“So, um… Why am I here?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean-” Jack shifted uncomfortably at the way Pitch was watching him. “Why did you want to talk to me so bad?”

“I was still mulling it over.”

“Mulling what over?” 

“If I should eat you or not.” 

Those words were spoken with such frankness that Jack almost didn’t catch it. His breath stopped momentarily in fright, his grip on the pencil tightening as his thoughts went haywire.

“Oh… U-um.” Damn his stutter. “Y-you said ‘was’, did you make up your mind then?”

“You seem surprisingly calm about all this.”

“Please, just answer the question.”

“I have.”

He didn’t elaborate any further, so Jack didn’t pry. They stared at one another silently for a while before Pitch continued;

“I have decided I would like us to become friends.” 

Jack would have been less surprised if Pitch had suddenly grown another head. The pencil snapped in his death grip, the sound making Jack duck his head in embarrassment.

“...Why?”

“It’s what I decided.”

“We can’t be friends. You’re inhuman, a Killer.” 

“Am I?” 

“Cut the bullshit.” Jack’s temper had finally snapped. He stood so he was more at eye level with the creature, though it wasn’t by much considering Pitch was much taller than he was by at least a foot. “You don’t make friends. You see everyone as cannon fodder! You amuse yourself by tormenting others to escape our own boredom! A creature like you has no need for friends. ” 

“You can tell all that based off of our short time together?”

“I don’t have to, you are incredibly easy to read.”

“I should say the same about you.” Pitch lowered himself more to Jacks eye level, his voice contained a surprisingly genuine gentleness. “You are a terribly lonely boy, aren't you?” 

Jacks mouth gaped open at that. The sting of tears at the corner of his eyes had him turning away from the man to hide his weakness. He was surprised at how much the words stung despite it not being accusatory at all. Pitch continued with the same tone.

“Jack-”

“Shut up.” He felt drained suddenly, the stress of the past week had finally caught up with him and left him feeling hollowed out emotionally. He rubbed his eyes quickly before turning back around and grabbing the paper.

“Give me one of their names so we can both go on with our nights.”

“I am sorry I made you upset, it was not my intention.”

“What the hell was your intention then? Just what the hell do you get out of all this? If you’re going to eat me just eat me-” 

The coldness of a shadow on his shoulder made him choke on his words. But unlike earlier, he didn’t move. 

“Look, just… give me a name. I just want to leave.” Jack looked up at Pitch pleadingly at that, making eye contact seemed to have its desired effect as Pitch straightened back unto his usual elegant posture. The shadow let go of his shoulder and receded back into the shadows.

“Pippa Mattingly”

“What?” 

“I buried her head under the largest tree in Joyce Park.” 

Jack shuddered, but turned to write it down on the provided paper. He’d have to give it to North when he left. 

“Why… Why just the head?” 

“You wish to know?” A small twitch at the corner of Pitch’s mouth insinuated he was once again amused by Jacks questions. “It was the only thing left of her.” 

What could Jack say to that? 

“Uh… Thanks I guess? For cooperating I mean.”

“My pleasure, we should do this more often.”

“Not like I have much of a choice” Jack muttered under his breath, turning away from the killer again.

“Till tomorrow then dear Jack.”

“Yeah, uh… Bye.” 

With that, the meeting had been adjourned. It could have been better, would have been a lot worse.

But it was a start.


	8. Komisches Gefühl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new, yet familiar face is finally introduced!   
> komisches Gefühl means 'Strange feeling'  
> Pitch and Jack have a moment of understanding. (You ever look at eldritch Pitch and wonder; 'what is going on inside his head?')
> 
> Please leave a comment and tell me what you think!

Jack visited Pitch three more times that week.

They had ended up in a strange routine. Every night when he checked in, he’d go straight down there and greet Pitch. They’d share a few words and pleasantries that would go well over an hour in length, when Pitch seemed satisfied enough with their conversations he’d give him a new name and Jack would leave to complete his usual work upstairs. They talked rarely about Pitch’s ‘inhuman’ attributes, Jack wasn’t one to pry and Pitch didn’t seem to be interested in sharing much information about himself anyway. 

The older man seemed to be more interested in what Jack had to say if anything. Jack would always just talk about his day, what he did for work, stuff like that. (He would always leave out talking about his family or anything personal as to avoid any future manipulation tactics.) Jack hated to admit that Pitch was a really good listener, he’d always inquired about little details in each of Jacks stories that made their time together almost enjoyable. He had never had conversations that… normal before with a patient, not even with Sandy. He found he was actually starting to look forward to their meetings, not that he’d ever admit it. 

Every time they’d met, Pitch would refrain from touching him again with the shadows much to the younger mans relief. He seemed to at least be respecting the boundaries Jack had set up during their first official meeting together. But he couldn’t help but notice them twitch occasionally behind the taller man eagerly whenever they spoke. Almost as if they, (or he) wanted nothing more than to reach out and tear him apart. It was one of the reasons he avoided getting too personal in his conversations, he couldn’t forget that this man was dangerous, no matter how ‘charming’ he was to talk to.

As far as he was concerned, It was strictly business.  
……………………………………………………………………………………………

The fourth day Jack was scheduled to meet with Pitch he ended up being late. 

He had just entered the building when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flurry of green and purple outside the window that looked out into the parking lot. Turning to look, he spotted a strangely attired lady hurriedly running in his direction, carrying what appeared to be an extremely heavy box of crafting supplies. She was wearing a purple and green wool sweater accompanied with a black skirt and grey long boots. Her hair was… interesting to say the least, it was dyed a vibrant purple, with a yellow streak in the front that stood out against her light brown skin. He could just barely make out a hummingbird bobby pin struggling to hold her hair away from her startling green eyes. Reminding Jack of the Detectives eyes in their vibrancy.

He ended up holding the door open for her when he saw one of her arms was in a sling against her chest. She smiled at him gratefully as she went by him, slamming the box down on the nearby desk with a heavy thud (Scaring the shit out of a very sleepy looking Monty). She let out a sigh of relief before turning back to him. Jack could barely make out the end of a name tag that read something like ‘-iana’ before the lady in question practically zipped over to him, she was practically bubbling with barely contained energy.

“Thanks buddy! You’re quite the little gentleman!” She flashed a brilliant smile at him that made heat rise to his face. He admitted to himself that she was very beautiful when she smiled, which was often.

“Uh, No problem, Do you work here?” 

“Yep! This is to be my first day back off of medical leave. I could have had longer but I don’t like not having anything to do!” She tapped her arm case for emphasis, then went back over to the box and picked it up surprisingly easily considering only having one usable arm. She then began to talk Monty’s ear off in a similar fashion that North did the other night. Not expecting such an energetic personality this early in the night, Jack found himself too surprised to leave just yet. 

“Say there, what’s your name anyway? I don’t know many people here yet, I started not even a month ago.” She said, seeming to remember he existed after Monty practically slid out of view to hide from her under the desk. Jack could understand why, her energy was a terrifying thing to face at this time of night where people were usually too tired to even talk.

“Uh, Jack. Jack Frost.”

“Weird name! I’m Tiana Fae, But most call me ‘Tooth’! Don’t ask why!” She winked at him before turning on her heel to make a beeline towards the direction of Norths office. He found himself smiling back at her as she speedwalked away, already admiring her tenacity despite not knowing her for that long, he couldn't even bring himself to be mad about her calling his name weird. Not like ‘Tooth’ was a normal name either.

“...Is she gone?” Monty whispered, peeking out from the shelter of his desk. 

“Yeah, do you know her?”

“Wish I didn’t.” Monty grumbled, sitting back in his chair and puffing out his chest and adjusting his glasses, likely trying to pretend he didn’t just hide under the table. Jack decided then that he was starting to not like the guy, he was overtly cowardly and always tried to ignore anyone who came over to his desk, himself included. 

“Why’s that?” 

“You don't know?” His eyes went wide behind his thick glasses. “She’s the one who got attacked by that psycho downstairs. If she’s back then that means I gotta deal with her war stories forever! She just never shuts up about anything.” He complained, slouching back down in his seat as he pulled out his phone to play games, Ignoring Jack completely now. 

He grunted, not really sure how to reply to that before he glanced at the clock overhead. He gasped, all but running to the elevator. Somehow 10 minutes had gone by, meaning he was late to his meeting with Pitch. Meaning that if he didn’t get his ass down there asap he’d be in big trouble, Pitch had made it especially clear to him that he hated tardiness during one of their discussions.2

He had not seen Pitch angry before, and as the elevator slowly made its descent he could only hope that he would never have to.  
……………………………………………………………………………..

“You’re late.”

When Jack finally made it to the room, trying to catch his breath after sprinting down the dark hallway, Pitch was in his usual pose in his cage. He gave no indication that anything was different, merely stated the obvious in that emotionless way of his. But Jack couldn’t help but feel that it would be in his best interest to apologize anyway.

“Sorry, I got a bit distracted on the way in.”

“You are in no position to be ‘Distracted’ Jack.” He indicated to the desk for him to sit down, His polite facade never wavering. Jack did so hesitantly, the heavy atmosphere of the room making him tense in his chair and avoid eye contact.

“It won’t happen again.” He murmured, looking up finally at Pitch who then smiled for the first time that night. It wasn’t his usual smile though, it was tight-lipped, almost forced. The older man tsked, straightening to his full height as he looked down at him in contemplation. Jack paled, already knowing Pitch was about to do something he wasn’t going to like.

“I am not so forgiving as you may believe, I’ve told you before that I LOATHE lateness.” It was said in his usual calm tenor, but it fell heavily onto Jack like a weighted blanket. ‘He must really be pissed at me’ he thought, noticing with dawning terror that the room was considerably darker than it was when he first came in. Looking up, he saw the last remaining overhead bulb sputter weakly.

Then it went out. 

Jack fumbled frantically for the spare lantern on the desk that North left for him. Only to let out a startled cry when he felt something cold wrap his outstretched hand in a painfully vice-like grip. In his minds eye, he imagined shadows entangling his throat, engulfing him in shadow and leaving nothing behind. He berated himself for his over imagination, and did his best to refrain from struggling against what held him. Instinctively knowing that if he flailed it would only excite the predator that held him in its grasp. With as calm a voice as he could muster, he spoke.

“I-I once again apologize for my rude behavior. If you w-would be so kind as to let go of my arm I would be very grateful.” His voice shook more than he would have liked, but it seemed to do the trick when he heard Pitch sigh in the dark. The grip on his hand started to loosen, but didn’t let go of him just yet. Jack wondered if it would leave a bruise later. 

“Hmm… I find I can't stay mad at you. You are forgiven.” Pitch said after a moment too long. The lantern fluttered to life seemingly on its own, but Jack was too relieved to see to really question it. Looking down at his hand, he was finally able to see the shadow thing clearly. It was curled completely around his hand and was slowly making its way up his arm, reminding Jack of a time when he was younger when he got to hold a snake at a zoo. It was opaque, kind of blurry and he couldn’t really focus on it. As he brought up his other hand to inspect it, it let go and disappeared back into the shadows faster than he could blink. 

Rubbing his now cold and sore hand absently, he glared back up at Pitch, who was looking at him in his usual owlish way as though he hadn’t just thrown what Jack felt was a ‘temper tantrum’.

“Thanks…” He grumbled, not giving Pitch the satisfaction of showing his pain as he put his hands on his lap, obscuring them from the older mans view, noticing how his wrist had already started to redden. Pitch’s face twitched microscopically, the only indication that he was still irritated before they began to talk like usual.  
…………………………………………………………………..

Today's topic was Music, Apparently Pitch was an avid fan of the classics, which wasn’t all that surprising given his personality. Jack himself had very poor music taste, not really favoring a genre much to the killers' irritation.

“I don’t see what the big deal is, if a song has a nice beat then I’ll enjoy it. What does it matter if it’s rock or electric?” 

“The point, Jack, is that favorite genres of music tell of one's personality, their intelligence. If you don’t place value in the sounds you ingest then you will have no way of telling works of genuine art from mere novices.” Pitch growled irritably, pinching the bridge of his angular nose in annoyance. Jack grinned at that, amused that the man was actually getting annoyed at Jack’s seeming indifference to Musical culture. It was a petty sort of revenge for how Pitch snapped at him earlier.

“Look, I don’t really see what the big deal is. Music is just a bunch of sounds people make sound nice anyway, what does it matter if it was made yesterday or a hundred years ago?” The flabbergasted look Pitch gave him made him burst out in hysterical laughter, an alien sound in such a dismal room. Pitch reeled back slightly at the sound, eyes wide in surprise before warming into fond amusement.

“You’re messing with me, aren’t you Jack?” 

“What gave it away?” Jack said after finally calming down, wiping tears from his eyes as he smiled teasingly at him. Pitch gave a warm chuckle in response, shoulders relaxing slightly as the two simply enjoyed their first shared moment of mirth. After a moment, Pitchs voice carried out through the glass in an uncharacteristically quiet manner.

“I… Apologize for my behavior earlier, I have hurt you.” 

Jack’s amusement all but vanished in an instant as he looked up at Pitch. He was apologizing? 

“It’s… Fine, Really. I’m not hurt.” Jack waved the hand Pitch grabbed earlier for emphasis, trying not to wince when the appendage complained against the sudden moment. Pitch, ever the keen observer, seemed to notice, his eyes narrowing down to thin golden slits as he followed the movement. Disdain clearly shown on his face.

“Don’t lie to me Jack, I can tell you're favoring your hand despite your best efforts to hide it from me.” 

Jack looked away, embarrassed at being called out so easily. He heard Pitch hum in contemplation for a moment. A strange silence fell over the two for a while before they decided to call it a night. Pitch gave him the name of one Caleb Griffin, a 40 year old man who was now at the bottom of some lake in the next town over. Jack stood to leave, only making it a few steps before he found himself slowing to a stop. Turning back to a very confused looking Pitch, he held out his hand.

“What are you doing?”

“I don’t really know. Just… Humor me.” Pitch seemed to realize what he was asking then, his pupils dilating slightly as he gingerly placed a shadow into Jacks waiting palm. Feeling a bit stupid for doing something this dangerous, Jack lightly closed his hand over the shadow and shook it in a very stiff handshake before quickly letting go. He could feel his ears reddening as an embarrassed blush spread across his face. He hid it by turning to fake cough into his arm, Pitch remained as stoic as ever, but was clearly thrown off by Jacks impulsive action.

“Look, there's no hard feelings alright? Um… See you tomorrow.” Without waiting for a reply, he walked briskly over to the door, Just barely hearing Pitch’s response as the door closed behind him.

“Goodnight Jack.”  
……………………………………………………………………

When Jack’s footsteps finally receded into the hallway, Pitch was still in his position next to the glass, his nose just mere centimeters from the holes that let in fresher air from the outside hallway. His breath didn’t even fog the glass as he breathed in and out deeply, fragments of the janitor's presence still lingered in the air, melting against his tongue like snow that he drank it all in greedily. He shuddered, mulling over the strange feelings that Jacks actions had left him with as his shadows once again covered the room in inky blackness (he found his mind worked best in the dark). 

He found he was conflicted. The more civilized part of him was deeply regretful for injuring the boy in his anger, he was not typically one to lose control of himself like that. Luckily, the boy seemed to have a very forgiving nature, far too trusting for his own good. At the memory of the surprising warmth of Jacks hand and how it permeated the shadows that made up his true form, another, more familiar and darker part of him wanted nothing more than to drag Jack back here and t a s t e.

Pitch shivered inwardly at the thoughts that fluttered through his mind at all the ways he could devour Jack. The shadows eagerly stretched in the direction the human in question went and wrapped around the fragile minds of the humans that were trapped with him down here. He felt his teeth sharpen and dig into his lower lip in his excitement at the thought of how Jack would possibly react to seeing him unravel from his human shell. Oh, how he itched to reveal his true form to the boy and p l a y…

Bringing up one of his sharpening hands, he bit deeply into the fake skin of his palm and imagined how delicious Jacks warm lifeblood would be. It had been far too long since his last proper meal, the blood of the strange nurse did little to appease him. He could smell her on Jack, as well as the sister that he thought he didn’t know about and his stomach rumbled at the memory of fresh flesh between his true teeth. He drooled hungrily, his teeth digging deeper into his hand, nearly tearing a chunk of it off in his bloodlust. 

The taste of black blood in his mouth thankfully snapped him back to his senses before he could follow through on his impulse. Quickly, he rubbed his mouth into its normal human shape as he contemplated why he had not eaten the boy yet. The wound on his hand disappeared as quickly as it came as Pitch savored the taste of his own blood on his lips...

No, as much as he wanted to give into his usual desires, he found himself enjoying their conversations even moreso. As hungry as Pitch usually was for flesh, he was an intellectual first and foremost. The janitor was definitely much more fun to talk to than the simpering Doctor and Detective that he loved to wind up so much. 

He found Jack to be incredibly appealing to him the more he talked to him. At first, he was merely happy to simply toy with the boy in the way a cat would with a broken bird. But the more he saw the fiery determination in Jacks eyes, his bravery and inability to back down from Pitch’s threats and prodding, (even responding with his own!) the more he wanted to know about him.  
There were secrets that dwelled behind those impossibly blue eyes that he wanted to dig his nails into. Something he would never get to have if he simply ate him. He found that he was fond of that trickster smile of his, and that laugh… he couldn’t remember the last tie such an honest sound was ever directed at him. 

Truly, Jack was a mystery, one he wanted to solve instead of destroy. 

It was strange, not wanting to eat a human. He thought of the only other being to survive him, that girl, ‘Emily’. To this day, he still doesn't know what had possessed him to spare her, but found that he didn’t regret it. Perhaps this strange fixation he had on Jack was an impulse as well? Only time would tell…

Yes, Pitch was a very patient being, he prided himself on his ability to wait. Perhaps, once he grew bored of this game with Bunnymund, he would spare Jack as well?

The thought of letting Jack go had Pitch baring his sharpened teeth at the surprising feeling of anger and something far uglier within him. No, the boy was different from Emily. He could see his true form for starters, something that no other living human was even capable of. That and he was simply too interesting to be left alone…

Deep in thought, Pitch gauged deep scratches into the glass absently. Shadows curled possessively over the chair and desk that the janitor had frequented, nearly crushing it in their intensity. The snapping of wood brought Pitch back to the present as he realized he had nearly torn the thick oak desk in half. It was surprising, how strange he was behaving lately without not really knowing the reason why. He couldn’t tell if he was angry or amused that the boy had such an effect on him, but decided to ignore it for now as he crept back under the bed frame that he was given. 

Closing his eyes, he stretched his shadows out to connect with the one he attached to Jack, the boy had just left work and was now in the darkness of the woods. Pitch smiled reveling in the feel of the boys quickening heartbeat as he sensed his presence, chuckling as the boy kept glancing over his shoulder into the dark on his long trek home. 

Pitch, after long bouts of contemplation that night, decided that whatever would happen in the near future, that Jack would not escape him. 

That was, If he ever chose to let him go. 

Which he most likely wouldn’t.


	9. Savour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack has a bad day at work. 
> 
> (just a heads up, things get a bit spicy near the end of this chapter, so if you don't like blood then don't read.)
> 
> Please leave a comment and tell me what you think! I love reading your comments.

The next two weeks of visiting Pitchs cell go by with relative ease.

Ever since the wrist incident, their ‘relationship’ seemed to change drastically from one of shaky compromise to one of relative friendliness based on their shared interests. They had discussed a number of topics during their meetings, ranging anywhere from classical literature, music, and the arts. Jack found that Pitch was a well versed man in all those things, even having shown favoritism to works that showed romanticized depictions of violence. (He spoke at great length about ‘The Roses of Heliogabalus’ by Alma-Tadema, which Jack found himself looking up online once he got home that night.) He was surprised to find himself looking up other works to talk about for their future discussions during his weekends off, though he couldn’t help but feel that Pitch knew so much about such things because he was probably alive when they were made. The dude wasn’t human after all, so Jack wouldn’t put it past him to be immortal too, though he never asked. 

They had refrained still from talking about anything too personal. Jack found that it was getting harder and harder not to, there was something about the man that made one want to tell him everything. Pitch seemed to be waiting patiently for Jack to cross that line on his own time. But he knew that once he did so, he wouldn’t be able to define their ‘relationship’ as just professional anymore. 

Despite having to talk to Pitch for well over an hour most nights, he still had a job to do. His schedule had suffered horribly these past few weeks, but Jack was quick to adapt to it. It was always visit Pitch first, Give North any information the killer decided to give him that night so he could send it to the Detective. Then he would do his usual cleaning duties, talk to Sandy if he had time, and go home an hour later than he normally would. Mary was quick to scold him about it since he still insisted on getting up early to make her breakfast. Though that was partially because he didn’t want her to burn the apartment down in his sleep, also because he just wanted to see her off in the morning like their mom used to. The thought of her waking up to an empty house had never sat right with him. 

Surprisingly enough, He was starting to see Nurse Tooth more often during his shifts. She was apparently in charge of providing artistic outlets to the patients who had issues with their memory, it explained why Sandy had so many supplies to draw with at the very least. He found himself looking forward to seeing her whenever they were able to cross paths. Her cheerful energy was certainly a breath of fresh air when compared to the usual snobbish attitude of the other nurses he’d talked to. He found it easy to laugh around her and they had quickly become something akin to friends when they both realized they were friends with the same patient. 

Her cast had eventually been replaced with a large gauze patch that covered the majority of her lower arm. She had offered to show him the injury in the way that middle schoolers tended to show off their scars to impress their friends, But considering he was well acquainted with the monster who maimed her he graciously declined to look whenever she offered under the guise that he was very squeamish. But truthfully, he knew he’d feel some sort of guilt over it if he ever did see it. Though he had nothing to do with what happened. 

Perhaps it was because he didn’t like being reminded of the fact that his new ‘friend’ had the capacity for such things? Perhaps he just didn’t like being reminded that one day he could just as easily be in the same situation Tooth had found herself in? He himself wasn’t entirely sure of the reason, but he knew that if he ever deceived himself into pretending that Pitch was, for lack of a better term, ‘Harmless’, he would be at serious risk of being acquainted with Pitchs infamous ‘appetite’. 

No, he had had enough near death experiences for one lifetime, thank you very much. He didn’t need more ‘scars’ to remind him of the fact that he had already been changed by his brief time of being dead. His hair was enough of a wake up call whenever he looked in his reflection in the bathroom, a reminder never to trust anybody.

But really, when are we ever given a choice in such things?

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

“You’re on the news.” 

Jack looked up from his coffee mug to look at a very excited looking Mary. She had just gotten back from school and was now thrusting her phone too close to his face for him to really focus on it. Scowling, he pushed the screen away from his face and looked up at his sister from his position on the well worn couch.

“What are you talking about?” 

“You really don’t know? The whole school was talking about it! They didn’t say your name in the article but I know it's you.” She shoved her screen in his face again before he managed to wrestle it away from her. Looking down, he paled when he saw a picture of a very familiar smug criminal looking back at him, as well as another, much smaller picture of the Hospital he worked at off to the side. It read as follows:

\--------------------  
The BOOGEYMAN: Back for More?   
Bunny Battles for Boasting rights!  
EXCLUSIVE!!!

_‘Just when we thought the Nightmare of yesteryear was gone for good, it turns out this bad dream is far from over!’_

_‘The most Infamous killer of the century, only known as ‘Pitch Black’ by officials, and ‘The Boogeyman’ by the press, has Just been revealed to have released several more names of victims which have previously been withheld from the public from his holding cell in the ‘Guardian Asylum for the Criminally insane’. After being transferred under the care of one Doctor North from his previous holding, Pitch has become nothing but informative, But why?’  
‘When interviewed, the lead Detective ‘Bunnymund’ has stated it has been his efforts alone which have made Pitch crack under the threat of the death penalty. But sources say there are more ‘unethical’ methods being conducted in this building of horrors… ‘_

_‘Sources claim that, after a tug of war of sorts between the higher ups of the hospital, a civilian has been used to bait the madman for information. Not yet is known about what the civilian is using as leverage for information about past victims, but one thing is for certain, it is working.’_

_‘We have many various theories as to who is being held hostage by this administration, many have theorized it to be Emily Jane, the sole survivor of Pitch’s murder spree two years ago. But when asked for an interview, has denied any involvement in the matter. Recent evidence has suggested the unknown person of interest to be someone who works in the hospital night shift, though this has yet to be confirmed.’_

_‘Who is this mystery person? Are they a former unknown victim? A lover from a previously unknown background? Could it be the detective who put him away in the first place? Or someone who was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time?’_  
\-------------------

Jack stopped reading after that, The article was poorly written and was practically dripping with clickbait material. What had stuck out to him however, was the bit about Bunnymund where he said nothing in regards to Jack at all. He couldn’t tell if Bunnymund genuinely didn’t care that he put Jack in such an awful position in the first place, or was simply trying to keep Jack’s identity safe from the press. He decided to give the detective the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise.

“Well? Is it you?” He considered her for a moment. A part of him did want to tell her, at least have someone to confide in this since he promised North he’d never talk about his arrangement to anyone. But she was also a kid, someone who shouldn’t have anything to do with this. 

“No, It’s not. I have no idea who it could be either so don't ask.” 

Mary puffed out her cheeks in mock annoyance, but accepted his answer and went off to do her homework. He remained in his spot on the couch, mulling over what Mary had shown him. He’d have to be more careful at work, it was more than likely that these ‘sources’ were bored nurses and doctors who sold information to the press for money. But he didn’t want to give them any reason to throw him under the bus. He was just glad that as of now he was still safe, he didn’t want them to know about him or his past, not even Mary knew the whole story of the day he died, the only people who did know were now dead…

No matter what happened, he just hoped Mary would never be exposed to that kind of situation ever again.  
………………………………………………………………………..  
Detective Bunnymund had seemingly just arrived at the hospital when Jack came in for work that night. To his surprise, Tooth was also there and seemed to be getting rather flirty with the man if her hanging off the detectives arm had anything to say about it. The feeling seemed reciprocated given how bright red Bunnymund's cheeks had gotten as soon as he noticed Jack watching their exchange. Tooth however, merely winked at Jack before blowing a kiss at Bunnymund and leaving to go back to her work. The detective, clearly thrown off, cleared his throat and regarded Jack, who waited patiently for him to speak. 

“Hello Jack.”

“Detective.” 

“I take it Pitch isn’t giving you much trouble?”

“He’s acting how he usually does.” Jack absently rubbed his wrist, It did bruise but had healed quickly enough, the remaining injury now only a faded yellow that you couldn’t see unless you were looking for it, luckily no one noticed it during that time. Bunnymund huffed in reply before looking longingly in the direction Tooth left in. Jack didn’t know how to feel about the thought of those two together, they seemed to be a good pair and were roughly the same age but Bunnymund seemed a bit too serious for someone as bubbly as Tooth. The detective seemed to realize what he was thinking when he slyly observed Jack out of the corner of his eye.

“Tiana and I have met a few times at Manny’s hospital, she transferred over about a week before they moved Pitch here.”

“Oh. Um… are you two, you know… a thing?”

“Hah!” The detective laughed, as if the mere thought was ridiculous. “I wish, but work comes first i’m afraid… Especially lately.” A dark expression passed over his face a moment before he gave Jack a small smile. Inwardly, Jack realized he was very handsome when he smiled. 

“Anyway, i’m afraid duty calls. I have been meaning to talk to you, but i’ve been pretty busy with a new case as of late.”

“A new case? Is it that one with the missing teeth North was talking about a while back?” Bunnymund grumbled, clearly not pleased that the doctor had not kept his mouth shut.

“Yeah, It’s pretty gnarly if you ask me. But I’m not obligated to talk about it at the moment.” He rubbed his stubbled chin a moment before turning to walk in the direction of Norths office. Both men parted ways with a formal wave. Jack decided that, while rather prudish, the detective seemed to have good intentions overall. He could see why Tooth liked the guy, he gave off a kind of film Noir vibe from how he always dressed in brown suits, to his strange gruffy voice that spoke of years of cigarette and alcohol usage. Though he couldn’t blame the guy considering his chosen profession. 

For the whole ride down in the elevator, Jack mulled over his own thoughts, not really paying attention until the elevator stopped abruptly. Looking up, he noticed he was still between floors and began to panic. _‘Did the elevator break?’_ He didn’t like the thought of being stuck in this death box for any longer than he had to be, so when it suddenly jerked to life he nearly wept with joy.

He’d have to remind himself to tell North at some point, but knew the man would mostly likely wait till the thing actually permanently broke before calling in repairs.

It was only a matter of time.

……………………………………………………………………………………….

When the elevator doors opened into the familiar hallway, he was surprised to see more people than usual. Aside from the two guards he had become acquainted with, there were two other doctors he didn’t recognize and one guard, they were all huddled around a cell near the middle of the hallway. Making his way around them, he noticed what had everyone's attention. 

The cell door was open, a rare sight down here. Within, he could see a large bald man he recognized as a patient. He was cowering in a corner away from the door, where the two doctors were slowly making their way in to try to coax the man into his bed. The guard eyes Jack as he approached, but paid him no mind when he saw his cleaning attire. Within the cell, he could hear the man muttering to himself;

“He’s gonna eat my soul doc, please don’t let him.”

“No one’s going to eat you Cossack. You’re safe here, do you remember where you are?”

“He’s close, he eats my dreams. He’s so hungry Doc.” The man, Cossack apparently, was practically sobbing like a child. The doctor, a rather petite woman, reached into her coat and revealed a syringe.

“Cossack, i’m going to give you a light sedative okay? It’s just to help you sleep-”

“No!” 

Cossack suddenly sprang up with surprising speed and pushed past the doctor and ran through the cell door to where Jack and the others were located. The guard, apparently not expecting this, reached a hand to his holster in warning. 

“Cossack, go back to your cell right now! You know what i’ll have to do if you resist.”

Cossack didn’t seem to hear him, his eyes looking around madly, not really taking anything in. That is, until his gaze landed on a slowly retreating Jack. He seemed to come back to some sort of awareness when their eyes met. 

Jack had seen many people in his time here who would be defined as ‘mad’, so he knew what the gaze of a madman looked like, the way they focused on something just past you when you made eye contact. 

But Cossack didn’t look insane.

No

He looked petrified.

“You, You are like him!” Cossack screeched before lunging at Jack, toppling both men to the ground as the guard began to fumble with his weapon, Jack hit his head on the ground hard, briefly disoriented from the impact, Cosssack continued his ramblings. “I’ve seen you in my head! I know your face! You're dead!” 

The next thing Jack knew, He was punched square in the jaw and looking up at the whites of Cossacks terrified eyes as the man crawled on top of him. 

He didn’t scream, maybe he was too surprised too. Instinct took over and with one swift movement, he brought both his legs up and kicked the man back as hard as he could in the chest. Cossack flew back, clearly not expecting Jack to react so quickly and slammed his skull against the bars of his cell hard, the loud bang echoing so loud in the hall Jack was sure Pitch could hear it. Jacks assailant, who was surprisingly not knocked out from such a direct hit, was quickly tackled by the guard and Dingle. Jack, still reeling from such a sudden attack, stood back up on shaky legs. His lip was badly bleeding from where he was hit, but thankfully his teeth were fine. 

A sudden hand on his shoulder had him turning quickly to see a very apologetic looking Giggler. He was then ushered over to the very outside of Pitchs door quickly. Giggler, apparently not one for talking, gestured to the door. Jack, surprisingly, knew the gist of what he was getting at; _‘Go in until the situation is taken care of out here’._

“Uh, okay… I was headed here anyway.” Jack joked in an attempt to lighten the mood. Which seemed to work somewhat when the small guard in question gave him a tightlipped smile before opening the door and practically shoving Jack inside.   
………………………………………………………………………………………..

“Jack.”

Pitch was poised in his usual manner next to the holes in the glass, but he appeared anything but calm to Jacks keen eye. The mans pupils were completely blown out, appearing almost black in the terrible lighting. He saw his nostrils flare slightly as he breathed in through the glass. _‘He can probably smell my blood’_ Jack thought, wincing when he brought a hand up to his broken lip. He hadn’t been punched since he was in middle school, that wasn’t even nearly hard enough to make him bleed this much either.

“I’m fine, you should see the other guy.” Strangely, Pitch didn’t chuckle at his attempt at a joke like he usually would. Quite the opposite in fact, his lips minutely dipped into a frown for the briefest of seconds before it returned to its usual stony expression. His eyes tracked Jacks hand as he tried to wipe the blood off his mouth with a burning intensity. He stepped forward, remembering seeing a box of bandages somewhere in one of the desk drawers. But what Pitch said next had him freezing in place with sudden terror.

 **“Don’t move.”**

Pitch’s voice was low and solid, filled with an emotion Jack couldn’t identify. Looking up, Jack was shocked to see Pitch nearly pressed against the glass, his hands (claws?) were practically digging into the glass as he leaned forward and breathed in deeply, his eyes fluttered shut and Jack could have sworn he heard a groan. The shadows were eerily still all about the rooms walls, shuddering whenever Jacks eyes landed on one. 

He had never seen Pitch fight so hard for self control before, he was getting more and more worried the longer they stood silently regarding one another. It eventually became too much for Jack so, as slow as he could possibly move, he began backing up towards the door to make his escape, forgetting for the moment about the guy who attacked him outside. Once he made it to the door, he had to break eye contact with Pitch so he could see where to slide the keycard.

That was apparently all Pitch needed to lose control.

A large and heavy object had suddenly slammed into him from behind before he could even grab the door handle. The air left his lungs with a surprised gasp. In his surprise, he ended up dropping the card on the ground as he brought his arms up for purchase against the heavy wood door. He felt himself being grabbed by something cold before he was dragged and pressed roughly against the wall opposite the only exit in the room on his back. 

Dazed, Jack brought his arms up in a defensive reflex before they were pinned by the wrists on either side of his head. Looking up, he finally realized what had happened when he saw Pitch directly in front of him.

He had, somehow, escaped the cell.

He had escaped, and was now holding Jack against the wall by his wrists.

Jack opened his mouth to scream for help, but was immediately silenced when Pitchs mouth slammed into his own voraciously. His eyes went wide immediately, struggling under the vice like grip that barely so much as budged. He couldn’t see much, the majority of his field of vision was swallowed up with countless shadows that curled about them, he could feel a few of them wrapping around his legs whenever he moved. He tried kneeing Pitch in the gut, but froze when a sharpened hand cupped his throat in warming. There wasn’t much he could do but endure whatever it was Pitch was doing. 

_‘I’m going to die down here.’_ was the only thought that played on loop as he looked up at Pitch’s closed eyes. All thoughts of how he could possibly escape this situation vanished when Pitch suddenly bit down lightly on his lip. He couldn’t help the whimper that escaped his throat at the pain, the dudes teeth were surprisingly sharp. Jack winced when he felt his tongue lap over the newly broken skin, Pitch shuddered above him, his grip tightening as he lapped at the blood in his mouth, pressing Jack further into the wall almost painfully.

_‘Wait, is he TASTING me?!’_

The realization had Jack struggling with renewed fervor, accidentally biting down of Pitchs tongue in his desperation to close his mouth. With a growl, Pitch reeled back and looked down at Jack in what he read as shock, he was trying desperately to catch his breath. His panting was the only sound in the room as Pitch regarded him silently, mouth slightly agape to reveal impossibly pointy teeth. Jack felt lightheaded when he could saw his own blood smeared on the monsters lips.

Neither of them seemed to know what had just happened, or even understood, not really. Jack had been kissed plenty of times before by both men and women, but he didn’t think it could even be compared to what they just did. It felt more like Pitch was _Consuming_ him.

Just as quickly as he appeared, Pitch had somehow returned to the tank in the time it took Jack to blink. With the pressure off of him, he sunk against the wall and brought his shaking hands up to his mouth. Strangely enough, it didn’t hurt any more. Pulling his hand back, he saw no blood.

Pitch was standing as though nothing had happened, but from the expression on his face, he didn’t seem as collected as he normally would have been and licked his lips as though he was savoring the taste. But Jack wasn’t going to wait for him to do it again. 

Without a word, Jack sprinted over to the door, grabbed the keycard, and left as fast as he could.

Pitch let him leave.


	10. Frustration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Pitch struggle to understand their feelings.
> 
> More Tooth/Bunnymund for you guys! Next chapter will likely have more Sandy I promise. Someone new too ;)
> 
> I love reading your comments, so please let me know your thoughts on this new chapter please!

Jack didn’t go to work the night after Pitch kissed him.

He hadn’t intended on skipping, not really. He had the alarm set and everything and he had never missed a day of work before, but he just couldn’t bring himself to fall asleep that night. The memory of Pitchs teeth on his lip, the strong grip and heavy pressure of the man on him kept him tossing and turning well into the morning and jumping at every little sound from the streets outside. He ended up falling asleep as soon as the sun made its way to his window. When he had awoken after a series of jumbled, almost feverish nightmares, he realized he had slept well through the day. He felt worn thin, he didn’t know what to make of what exactly had occurred the night before.

On one hand, he knew Pitch wasn’t human, and thus he probably didn’t react to things like a person normally would. He was clearly under some kind of bloodlust when he noticed Jacks injury and was driven by his own monstrous nature. Did he even see a kiss as romantic? Jack didn’t know what Pitchs thoughts on it were, but he was clearly surprised with his own actions. Was it better or worse that it wasn't intentional? Jack was just thankful that he didn’t actually hurt him beyond the bite, quite the opposite in fact. When Jack got home that night after making his own escape, he was shocked to see that his busted lip was completely healed. Somehow, with whatever weird powers Pitch had, he could apparently patch up injuries too. It was strange, but handy. Jack supposed that could be the other reason he did it. 

Which brought him to the other part of his thoughts; why couldn’t he stop thinking about it? 

Jack couldn’t deny that he found Pitch to be… gentlemanly. He was always very polite and never pried into Jack’s personal life despite clearly wanting to. He apologized for hurting him, he imagined that the next time he went there he would probably be apologizing the entire session in that subtle way of his.

Did Jack even _want_ to go back though? It was becoming more apparent as of late that Pitch was becoming very friendly towards him, he likely saw Jack as a potential target more than anything else. But the way he was always so courteous was… concerning. The closer the two seemed to get, the more danger Jack had been facing. He knew he should quit, he knew nothing good would come of this.

And yet.

Where else would he find a job in this town that paid so well? Mary was so happy here, he’d been trying so hard to cheer her up in this town when they had to move from their old family home. She was still so young, he had to make sure she wasn’t uprooted again so soon. North would most likely to try to guilt trip Jack into coming back if he ever did leave, that and Bunnymund would most likely harass him to keep talking to Pitch too. Probably something like ‘Giving the families of his victims closure’ or something similar. Like Jack didn’t already know that. Like he didn’t think about that almost constantly to remind himself not to get too attached to Pitch.

That, and Jack found he was actually enjoying talking to him, keeping a professional distance didn't seem all that possible anymore.

But he wasn’t ready to face Pitch that day, he just couldn’t handle the thought of them talking about what happened and knew he’d likely be overwhelmed should Pitch decide to discuss it. He needed time to think, to get his thoughts and feelings in order at the very least. 

So, with a quick text to North about not being able to make it that night, he began to think about what he would say to his ‘friend’ when he visited again. 

……………………………………………………………………….

Bunnymund, for lack of a better term, was pissed. 

He was planning on going to visit Pitch Black with Jack when he came into work that night. But after a brief conversation with that airhead doctor North, it seemed the boy was taking a sick day. The doctor seemed to buy into it, But Bunnymund had a feeling there was more to Jacks absence than that. The boy was certainly an odd one, he seemed to keep to himself for the most part and the detective was dying to get his opinion on the killer.

He had heard from the guards on duty in the Nightmare wing that night that Jack was attacked by one of the inmates. He had managed to fend him off easily enough apparently, which was quite the surprise to the detective considering how scrawny Jack looked. He knew better than most that looks can be deceiving, which is why when the guards also told him that Jack had ran out of Pitchs cell much earlier than he normally would, he knew something had happened. The fact the boy skipped today when, in Norths words, he didn’t normally all but confirmed his suspicions. 

Still, he had to go and talk to the infamous murderer, he wanted to try to get a new victim name without Jacks help for once. It was his job after all, and would look good to the reporters who he knew were keeping a keen eye on him at the moment. Somehow, whoever had given them information that Pitch had many more victims than initially thought, had not as of yet spoken of Jack. Perhaps whoever was gossiping wanted to spare him of the press? It was unlikely the reason was that kind, given how the detective had observed the staff either sneering or blatantly ignoring the janitor when he was near. It was more likely they just didn't care enough about him to want to give him any limelight. He felt a near constant spark of pity for using the boy like this, especially since he didn’t seem to have any sympathizers outside of the Doctor and a few inmates that he had managed to befriend. 

Bunnymund hated the feeling that he was in the wrong, always had. Ever since he was a young recruit he had always had a keen sense of justice. But the Boogeyman case, his first big break as a beginner detective, had broken him in more ways than one. He had spent months, years, trying to track the monster down. Only for it to end with him practically showing up gift-wrapped for him at the police station. It was both the best and worst thing Pitch could have done to him.

On one hand, catching such an evil being had made him a national hero. His career and reputation had skyrocketed and he was practically immortalized in every criminal recording book. He was respected and inspiring to this very day.

But then came the pressure.

Yes, he had caught a serial killer, but he also had to deal with the fact that Pitch had _turned himself in._

He was at the station one day, simply going over the case files of missing and murdered families that had been linked to the mysterious killer, going many sleepless nights in order to figure out Pitchs next move, he didn’t even realize it was his birthday that day. It was about noon when a tall, dark and angular man simply sat down calmly in the seat across from him. Bunnymund, young and naive, noticed a simple trash bag perched nonchalantly on the man lap and didn’t notice the obvious red flags. When he had asked about it, the man flashed a very charming smile at him and said;

“I believe you were looking for me, so I came with a little present for my number one fan.”

The man spoke in such a way that the entire precinct fell silent, officers and prisoners had turned their heads to look at the man, Bunnymund included. He had, with shaking fingers, taken the bag from Pitchs own eerily still ones. With a glance over to his supervisor, he opened the bag and nearly fainted at the contents.

Within the bag, tied up with golden thread, were dozens of ID’s of missing and murdered people, many of which he recognized from his own files, some even had speckles of dried blood still on them.

Held on by a gold string tied into a bow, was a letter that read;

 _‘Happy Birthday Detective ;)’_

That was enough to put him behind bars for a long time before they realized who he was.

The press had had a field day with it, but Bunnymund didn’t feel like he won anything that day. Pitch had been watching him, he even knew it was his _birthday_ somehow! He couldn't sleep for a long time after that, turning to smoking and anything else that could calm his nerves. But it was never enough. The murder cases that came afterwards were nothing in comparison to catching such a big fish, he found nothing had been as satisfying as it since, everyone expected him to be a _goddamn Sherlock Holmes_ for every case that came afterwards, the pressure had been too much at times, but he did everything he could to keep up appearances.

Pitch had ruined him, and he knew it. 

He was too busy reminiscing to notice the familiar sounds of high heels making their way over to him,a familiar woman lean against the wall beside him in one of the hallways that led downstairs. Only flinching lightly when she finally spoke.

“Hey there Bun-Bun, why do you look so down?”

The detective turned to look at Tooth, feeling his bad mood almost evaporate completely. 

“Just remembering some stuff. What brings you by my way?” She beamed up at him through her lush eyelashes, leaning onto his shoulder with her good arm. He noticed she was wearing a deep red lipstick and tried not to grin.

“Was making my way over to the Doc when I saw you brooding more than you usually do.”

“Ah.” He rubbed his stubbled chin. “Sorry about that, I heard Jack was taking a sick day, it threw a bit of a wrench in my plans I guess you could say.”

“Oh! I’ve met him, the janitor right? Cute kid! His hairs pretty unusual though.”

“Yeah, North said it’s natural apparently. I’ve been meaning to talk to him but he’s been pretty evasive so far.”

She laughed sympathetically, sending a shiver through him when she absently rubbed his arm with her painted nails. They had a bit of a fling a while back when he first caught Pitch and had first met her at Mannys institute. But they had both put an end to it when it became too hard to meet outside of work. He’d admit he still had a huge thing for her, seeing her here had been a nice surprise. He felt entirely remorseful when he heard she had been bitten by Pitch, only now sending a quick glance over her bandaging. She caught him looking, she always did.

“It healed a lot faster than the hospital thought it would, I’m pretty lucky.”

“Hmm.” He felt no need to comment on it, not entirely sure what he should say about it anyway. They stared at each other for a while, thinking about what could have been, or still was.

Eventually, Tooth decided to change the subject.

“So, I hear you’re after a new monster?” Bunnymund blinked, a bit thrown off by the topic change. 

“Yeah, Someones going around and killing dentists, stealing their teeth and mangling the bodies. We’ve found about three so far.”

“Sounds awful.” Tooth grimaced in disgust, leaning more onto Bunnymund. He caught the familiar scent of minty perfume, he could feel his cheeks redden a bit and quickly chastised himself. She noticed though, she always did.

“Do you think that… This new killer could be what you’ve been looking for?” She whispered into his ear breathily. He had told her before how dissatisfied he had been with his job after he caught Pitch, she had been there at his lowest and had helped him get out of his depression. She had understood him better than anyone ever had. He smiled down at her, nothing but warmth flooding his chest when she looked up at him in that charming way of hers. 

“I hope so, I was just about ready to quit before Pitch started talking again.” She frowned briefly at him before playfully nudging him with her elbow. He grabbed it, spinning her till she was pressed directly to his front, earning a laugh. She wrapped her arms around his waist and he wanted nothing more than to stay like that for the rest of the night.

But, again, he had a job to do. 

“We can’t Tooth, I have to try to pry some more intel out of the big man downstairs.” She pouted a bit, red lips pulling down in a mock frown that he wanted desperately to wipe off of her usually cheerful face. 

“Can’t I distract you for a bit Bun-Bun? Please? It’s been such a long time since we’ve seen each other, I’ve missed you.” She managed to bring him down to eye level with her, which wasn’t hard considering her heels and that she had tugged him down by his tie. Her lips just barely grazed his own, he itched to feel more and brought up a hand to caress her cheek, she leaned into his touch. 

He missed her too, far more than he cared to admit.

“I suppose I could use a distraction.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Pitch had been pacing the barriers of his cell for what felt like ages.

Occasionally, he’d bring a claw out and scrape against the glass to distract himself from his thoughts, but it had not helped. The cool glass only served to remind him of how warm Jack had felt when he had finally touched him for the first time. North had come by earlier and told him Jack wouldn’t be able to make it to their session that night, which was understandable. Pitch wondered why the janitor had not told North that he had attacked him, or at the very least, told him that Pitch had threatened him.   
It wouldn’t technically be lying, Jack knew he had every opportunity to finally sink his teeth into him yesterday, smelling his blood had only excited him to the point that he could no longer wait. But for whatever reason, he had stopped himself after tasting that sweet ambrosia that was Jacks lifeblood. Oh, he couldn’t remember tasting anything so divine before, not even the power rush he got from devouring his brothers could compare to it.

He’d been so looking forward to eating Jack when he felt the time was right, he found he could no longer wait till the game with Bunnymund had reached its climax. It was so easy to catch Jack and trap him against the wall, he could barely even feel his struggles when he bit his lip. 

But what had stopped him from getting what he wanted? 

Was it the way Jack had stared up at him when he opened his eyes? He had felt strange then, when they made eye contact in that moment, his chest had fluttered strangely. It reminded Pitch of the way the boy would look up at the moon in his nightmares. He found he wanted to see more of it. The boy had more fire in him than initially thought as well, it surprised him when Jack managed to bite him back in that moment, even more so when he realized it had actually _hurt._  
He flicked his tongue out over his dry lips at the memory of it, not many had the ability to injure him, so what made Jack so different?

_He wanted to do it again._

It was frustrating, not knowing what he wanted from Jack.

Pitch stopped his prowling momentarily when he sensed the detective was in the building. He dearly needed the distraction from his inner turmoil. 

Sending a shadow out, he saw that Bunnymund had found his little Tooth again. He knew from his time under Manny's care that the two were in some sort of relationship. It was one of the reasons he attacked her that day they moved him here, it was his way of reminding Bunnymund that he could still get under his skin if he so wished. It pleased him to no end to see the look of pain on the detective's face when he looked at her arm when he thought she wasn’t looking. 

They seemed to still be on good terms much to Pitchs surprise. He remembered they hadn’t exactly been close the last time he saw them together. Currently, Tooth had led the detective into one of the empty storage closets Jack had often used to grab cleaning supplies. He chuckled at the thought of Jack finding them like that during one of his shifts in the future, Bunnymund would likely never show his face again in the hospital. 

He found himself watching them becoming entangled in their desperation for contact, as if the other could disappear at any moment. He didn’t typically have any interest in seeing humans entertain themselves in this way, he found it to be too barbaric for his tastes. He would normally leave at this point, but something was different this time.

He was curious.

It was when the detective crashed his mouth against his dear nurses own that Pitch found himself comparing it to what he did to Jack. He remembered seeing a slight tinge of pink on the boys cheeks that were similar in shade to the nurses. He had no intentions of calling what they did to be of romantic nature, he merely wanted a taste of him, but did Jack consider it to be a kiss? The thought of it, as well as the memory of the janitors blushing face, made his chest flutter again strangely. He absently rubbed over the area on his torso as he continued to watch. 

More and more, He found his thoughts turning to Jack when the detective pressed the nurse against the closet wall, Mirroring the position he had Jack in. How would Jack react if he had him in such a position? Would he hold him back in the way the nurse did, clinging to him like he was the most important thing in the world? The way Tooth looked up at his dear detective reminded Pitch of the way Jack looked at him, and at the moon in his dream.

He stilled in his pacing. 

Was it even possible..?

Was he… _Enamored_ by the little janitor?

The mere thought was laughable. Pitch had never wanted a partner before, such attachments were for the prey, the weak. He used such feelings to entice victims to their doom, or as leverage against enemies. He would kill any who even insinuated the idea of him dotting on such delectable prey.

_And yet…_

He found their conversations to be enjoyable, he often looked forward to whenever Jack came into work. He used shadows to follow the boy home countless times and had delved into the boys nightmares nearly every night, merely observing everything when in the past he would have made his victims nearly insane from paranoia. He’d had plenty of opportunities to eat the boy, and yet found he could not. _Why? What was holding him back?_

His frustration was growing, he ran a hand through his ever slicked back hair in anger. This certainly wasn’t normal for him. He had to do something about this. He needed blood and bone.

If he wanted any peace of mind, he’d have to kill Jack.

_Tonight, preferably._


	11. Nightly Visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pitch goes to Jacks place and something unexpected happens.  
> Some Tooth and Sandy POV's too!  
> (Since Some people have asked me about fanart, if you want to make it please tag as 'ROTG Asylum AU on tumblr or twitter!)  
> I hope the wait was worth it! Please leave a comment and tell me what you think :)

It was a weird feeling, not having anything to do.

Usually on days like this, Jack would force himself to take naps so that he wouldn’t feel completely exhausted when he went in for work in the late hours. He knew having an off day would make it a lot harder to stay awake when he got back into the groove of things so decided to just take a short nap around noon then spent the rest of the day reading and catching up on some shows. Mulling over how he should feel, what he should think, and what he should say once he had to face Pitch again the next night. Eventually, it became too frustrating to try to formulate a plan, so he decided it was probably best to wing it once it came up.

He worked best under pressure after all.

Mary was surprised to see him awake when she came back from school, but happy. Jack was sure to give her a huge bear hug the moment she walked into the door, it definitely helped to calm his own nerves, if only for a moment. Mary eagerly told him about her day, about how she had recently made a new friend everyone called ‘Beam’ for some weird reason and how they had ended up in a few classes together. It was nice, listening to her talk. It felt normal, like it had been when their parents were still alive. He didn’t say why he took the day off, and she didn’t ask, it was just good to be in each others company for a while. 

They ended up watching some dumb horror movie that night, something about an invisible monster that followed people around. Jack rolled his eyes at how cheesy it was, but knew Mary would most likely have nightmares about it later given how she was currently holding his arm in a death grip.

“Ya know, being invisible sounds like a pretty cool superpower.” Mary said once the movie was over, already getting up to head in for the night. Jack arched an eyebrow at her.

“Really? How so?”

“Just imagine it, you could pull as many pranks as you’d want! Who would stop you?”

“Hmm… That does sound pretty sweet…” Jack teased, ruffling her brown hair much to her irritation. “But I don’t think i’d like it that much.”

“Why not?”

“Well… wouldn’t it be lonely? No one would ever see you, or know you. That would suck after a while. No one would believe you exist.”

Mary frowned a bit at that, clearly troubled by whatever he said. Before he could ask what was wrong though, she spoke in a quiet voice.

“If you disappeared, I’d still believe you were there.”

_Oh no._

“Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. Besides…” He grinned, poking her playfully in the ribs. “If I do turn invisible, i’d just haunt you and drive you coo coo bananas.” She laughed, swatting his hands away and making a beeline for her room, yelling vague insults and a goodnight his way before her door finally slammed shut. He slumped over exhausted on the couch, setting a timer on the tv in case he fell asleep. He didn’t know why he was so tired. _maybe it was the stress getting to him…_

Shivering slightly at the somewhat cold air in the room, he fell asleep to the sounds of some dumb commercial and normal creaking of the now dark apartment around him, too tired to remember that he didn’t turn the lights off. 

…………………………………………………………….

Pitch took in the sleeping form before him as he contemplated what to do. 

It was easy, almost laughably so, to get into Jacks apartment through the use of the shadows he attached to him. He could hear the sounds of his sister sleeping in the other room but paid it no mind for the moment. Only paying attention to where Jack was curled up on the couch. He had never taken the time to look at his face this thoroughly before, surprised to note that even Jacks eyelashes were a stark white much like his hair. They fluttered against his cheek every now and then like freshly fallen snow and Pitch found the small gesture to be incredibly fascinating (much to his irritation). Yet he still made no move to go in for the kill just yet, merely watching the rise and fall of his preys chest for who knows how long.

_Focus, you came here to kill him._

Pitch, being the creature he was, had excellent hearing and sight. He could practically feel the gentle thrum of a heartbeat within Jacks ribs against his fake skin, he leaned down to observe him better. His eyelids went heavy as he watched the sweet pulsing blood within his neck flow with each heartbeat. With a curled talon, he traced just over his jugular and felt his mouth water at the vulnerable sight. 

Jack did not stir.

He had waited long enough for this, too long by his usual standards. The longest he had usually waited between meals was about a month or so, and it had been years now since he actually ate something decent. The body before him was a temptation he had denied himself for whatever inane reason. It was highly unlikely that anyone would connect the boys death with him, likely blame it on a copycat if anything. Bunnymund would probably think he had something to do with it but thats about as far as it could possibly go without any evidence to go off of. Perhaps he should eat the sister too, If he was still hungry afterwards. He couldn't have another Emily Jane running around. 

Resolve settled, he went about shedding some of his fake human skin.

He opened his maw impossibly wide, wide enough to bite Jacks head clean off and used one hand to brace himself against the back of couch while the other was perched just above Jacks chest, fingers growing sharp and ready to hold the body down in case it began to struggle. He was so close now, so close that Jack would have woken up if Pitch had needed to breathe. His teeth grazed oh so gently against Jacks face and he was ready to taste blood. 

“Mary… go back to bed.”

The abomination froze as Jack grumbled out in his sleep, clearly sensing that someone else was in the room but too tired to wake up entirely. Pitch quickly reshaped his jaw into its usual human shape so the boy didn't accidentally graze his teeth and wake up. With a groggy hand, he reached up and lightly patted Pitchs shocked form before turning more into the couch and falling back into his dreams. His talons dug into the couch recklessly as he tensed.

Pitch was still hunched over the sleeping human, all thoughts of hunger that he had been set to act on had completely vanished within mere moments. Replaced with that strange fluttering sensation in his chest that Jack seemed to always invoke. Some inner part of the monsters mind was concerned at just how quickly his bloodlust had disappeared. But when Jack shivered again below him, Pitch was finally moved into action, spurred now by a different type of desire that he had yet to name. 

He had come to the insane conclusion that he did not want to kill Jack, despite how much he craved him.

Instead, it seemed he wanted to do the opposite of what he initially planned, which was pretty confusing. But he was a master of adapting to sudden changes. It’s the reason he’s survived this long.

With as much gentleness as he could muster as not to wake him, Pitch cradled Jack within his arms and made his way over to where he knew his room was. Mindful to avoid any loose planks or other things that would alert the sister of his movement. Jacks head was cradled just under his chin and for a moment, he simply stood before his bedroom and enjoyed the rare warmth that only a living thing can give off. Before he used his tendrils to open the flimsy door and made his way inside.

Jacks room was surprisingly barren for a human his age. There was a small desk with assortments of papers and knick knacks that he itched to go through. Another time maybe. A small nightstand stood next to his twin sized bed against the wall where a single bulb hung from the cracking ceiling. He noted several unopened cardboard boxes beneath his bed that he deduced must have been the fest of his things. He must be one to be prepared to leave places quickly. Curiosity growing, he gently placed Jack beneath his blue comforter and stood to survey the few possessions he had. 

The only thing that really stood out as ‘his’ was an old framed family portrait that sat on the nightstand. It seemed to hold great significance to Jack considering it was the only picture in the room. Upon further inspection, he was surprised to see a picture of a much younger Jack holding what he assumed to be his little sister. Behind him stood a older couple; _His parents._

_Come to think of it, I haven't seen either of them around whenever I follow him._

If that was the case, where were they? It was unusual for someone as young as Jack to be given full responsibility over a sibling like this. A further search through the shadows told him the sad little apartment only had two bedrooms. _Odd._ Which meant that the parents were either extremely neglectful or dead, he put his bet on the latter.

_No matter, they would have been in the way anyway._

Jack was a boy who seemed young enough to be in college, working the midnight shift at an Asylum. Living in an apartment on the verge of town and providing for the only family he had left. Caught between poverty and the Jaws of the asylum's most dangerous resident. Jack was much more selfless and brave than Pitch had initially thought.

_How delicious._

That didn’t explain why his hair had turned white though. A look at the portrait showed that his hair used to be a normal shade of brown like the rest of his family. How did it happen then? Trauma? Some health condition?

Or maybe…

No, it’s impossible. Best not to dwell on it for the moment, he can mull it over once he gets back to his ‘room’ as the good doctor affectionately calls it.

Taking another look back at the sleeping form, he raised a hand to touch a pale cheek, paused for a long moment, then dissipated into the shadows to return to where he could properly talk to Jack.  
………………………………………………………………………..

Toothiania was an incredibly busy person by nature.

It was a wonder to her just how much she could get done in a day. She lived in a relatively nice and quaint little home within one of the towns suburbs with her 4 year old daughter she affectionately named ‘Abbie’ (Or just ‘Baby’ as everyone took to calling her due to her cherub shaped face.) An adorable yet reliant child she tended to dot on when she could be home. 

When she wasn’t there, she was at work at wherever she was needed. From hospitals, dentist buildings occasionally, and the mental asylum she was currently stationed at. People were always surprised to find out she used to be a dentist before she was just a regular nurse, but she was always praised for her intelligence and diligant hands. With her unique skills, she had been able to attend and graduate early fresh out of highschool with flying. After college, She dipped her toe immediately into nursing, spending a good chunk of her life (And her ridiculously rich families money) at a high end nursing school that practically begged her to attend their school. The sheer pressure alone would have killed anyone else. _Haha._

She also made a habit of taking long, long walks during her days off to get rid of some of her stress, it helped a lot more nowadays than it did when she was younger. But that was because she was more confident in herself than she had ever been. 

Once she was done with schooling, it shocked her how easy nursing had ended up being for her. She had been assigned as an assistant nurse in Manny’s pretentious mental hospital for a good chunk of her career. It was a bit of an insult to be shoved in the back of some shabby infirmary that wouldn’t even pass as a closet after all the hard work it took to get there, only helping the insane who had managed to hurt themselves or others in his ‘safe’ little cage.

That’s what it had felt like to her, a cage to trap all her potential in. Like a bottle of treasure thrown into a bottomless ocean. But she was able to stomach it most of the time. She kept all her rage and frustrations bottled up.

The other doctors and employees had been the worst of it. Most of the doctors there had their heads shoved so far up their ass they couldn’t even care about their own patients, too focused on making the latest discoveries in mental illness to listen to the pained cries of those brains they prodded for answers Tooth didn’t care about. It was almost enough to make her snap.

_Almost._

But that all changed when Pitch Black arrived. 

He had been the talk of the town, parades of paparazzi vultures had swarmed the place for even a glimpse of him. The other nurses were excited to have an opportunity to be interviewed for any information about the murderer. But that didn’t matter to her, not when a much better prize arrived shortly after the Boogeyman did.

Bunnymund was a charmer from the start. The moment he waltzed into her office over a few scrapes he had gotten from an overeager nurse and green eyes pierced her own, she knew she had to have him. It was easy for both of them, they were both looking for an escape from their own stressful and disappointing lives. He always tasted of smoke and coffee, something that made her inner dentist cringe whenever they stole kisses in the hallways. He always listened to her whenever she babbled and he always made her laugh at his dark humor. It was nice, better than anything Tooth had gotten to experience in a while. The sex was pretty great too. She decided she loved him, and from the looks she always caught him giving her when he thought she wasn’t looking, perhaps he loved her back. She hoped desperately that he did. 

Perhaps it was a good thing Pitch had killed so many people, if it meant that she could have the detective in her life.

But they were both always so busy, the visits grew shorter and shorter over the years. She didn’t blame him for it, the bags under his eyes told her he was being run ragged at work. But she wished she could have at least told him she was pregnant. But at the time, he had been so fragile and stress ridden she simply couldn’t bear to bring it up to him. So she had Abbie in secret, letting her harebrained mother watch her while she was out in the long hours. But it had hurt, she wanted to tell him, she had been meaning to for years but she could never just bring it up. He was a very busy man, and she respected him for that, but she also had her own life to live and a new mouth to feed. She had to move on from him.

Even if it tore her apart to do so.

All good things came to an end, but so do bad things. 

Manny had eventually requested Pitch transferred to another Asylum owned by one of his doctor friends. A goofball named North that Tooth had the pleasure of meeting a few times during his visits to her elusive boss that she rarely saw. He was always cheerful and always had something nice to say to her. She was incredibly grateful when she found out she was being transferred as well. It would be a blank slate, a new start under a much more caring boss. Seeing Bunnymund had been a nice surprise, she had missed him more than she thought she did. Every kiss he gave her in that closet had restored any energy that had left her during his absence. It was good to have him back in her life, hopefully for longer than last time.

Currently, she was taking her leave back home for the night. The click of her heels in the parking lot echoed louder than they had inside. She had just approached her car when she heard loud footsteps scurry towards her. Turning to look, she groaned inwardly when she saw her least favorite doctor here. 

“Oh! Good evening Tooth. As alluring as ever I see.”

“Hello Dr. Qwerty.” She greeted formerly, nodding her head once in greeting. Dr. Qwerty could be described as a ‘worm’. He always managed to wriggle his way into Tooths routine and had a serious crush on her and the other nurses. He made every move in the book towards her and didn’t seem to understand what ‘No’ meant. He toggled his huge spectacles up at her and smiled lecherously. She could feel her anger growing to dangerous levels again.

“You know…” He drawled, shuffling in uncomfortably closer to where she was leaning against her car. “It’s a cold night, mind giving me a lift back to my place?” 

“Whats wrong with your car?”

“What car?”

“The one over there with your name on it.” She pointed to a small red cooper a few spots down from her. Sure enough, his name was in sticker form over one of the rear windows that promoted his book club. She could see the wheels turning in his head for a new excuse but she cut him off. 

“Alright, but just a lift. Don’t complain when you have to walk back to work tomorrow.” He frowned at that, clearly expecting a different outcome of tonights events. But seemed to accept her offer nonetheless. She smiled at him while discreetly looking around for anyone else who might be out. There wasn’t another soul in sight and the cameras wouldn’t be able to see her out this far from the doors. 

Her car was a regular mom SUV that fit both of them inside easily, but Qwerty’s perverted aura made it feel small and cramped. He didn’t seem to notice her kids things in the back, or was simply too busy trying to slide his hand up her thigh for him to notice. She let him for now, making her way onto the small dirt path that led deeper into the woods. He didn’t notice that either.

Eventually, his attention broke away from attempting to grope her to look around in confusion at the trees.

“Hey… uh… This isn’t the right way back.”

“Tell me, have you been keeping up with the news?”

“Huh? Uh, not really…” 

Tooth smiled then, her first genuine smile of the night. Qwerty smiled too, not yet realizing something was wrong. He leaned back over to continue his attempted assault but was quickly interrupted by Tooth’s hand grasping his own. She spoke in as sultry a voice as she could muster.

“Hey… Let’s go outside. You wouldn’t want to mess up my car would you?” 

His flush spoke volumes of his lust as he quickly left the car and made his way over to her door. She indulged him momentarily when he shoved her against the side of the car to kiss her neck.

Slitting his throat was easy, the look of surprise and shock that overcame him before the light left his eyes got rid of any stress she had accumulated that week. She dragged his body as far as she could away from her car before she went back for her tools in her trunk. She had a few professional pliers she used to pry the teeth out and dismember the body, but she had to act quick today so she could only grab the teeth, the body would be taken care of by the wildlife long before anyone found the body. Safely tucking her prize in a bag she’d add to her collection at home, Tooth grabbed her spare clothes from the back and quickly changed as the first droplets of rain fell. She smiled when she saw a text from her mom that showed Baby safely tucked into bed.

She’d be sure to give her a big goodnight kiss when she got home.

……………………………………………………………………………

_Something was wrong._

It had been two days since Sandy had seen his friend despite him having work on those days. He’d NEVER forget his little meetings and he worried that his brother did something to scare his friend. But he couldn’t teleport like Pitch could to check in on him, he was only able to assuage nightmares or prevent them from becoming worse with what little power he had. He sensed Jack was still awake so he had to wait for who knew how long to see if he was okay.

He groaned in frustration on his mattress, rolling onto his back to look at the drawings he’d hung on the wall. It was always relaxing to have something for his hands to do when he was by himself, which was often. Absently, he reached with a small hand over to the snowflake he drew for Jack, tracing it as he mulled over what he could do.

He wasn’t like Pitch power-wise, that much was clear. But he knew that he had to do something, anything! His best friend was in danger of becoming his brothers… ‘Fixation’. 

If Pitch realized what Jack truly was, there was no telling what he would do to him.


	12. (Not a chapter)

Hey guys just a quick heads up!  
I recently made a new fix called ‘The Fairy and the Ravenstag King’. It’s a Hannigram fic so if you guys like Hannibal than please go check it out and tell me what you think!

I’m glad so many people are reading this fic! You guys are always so nice with your comments and I love reading your reactions. 

Next page will be out in a few days ;)


	13. The Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Woo new chapter! Next one will be pretty exciting I hope ;)
> 
> Sorry it took so long but I hope the wait was worth it! Please leave a comment telling me what you think!

Jack didn’t remember going to his bedroom last night. 

He remembered drifting off on the couch and having a weird dream about being held by somebody. Then when he woke up he was snug under his covers. It was weird, he had no memory of waking up. Maybe he sleepwalked? _I haven't done that since I was Mary's age though._ It wasn’t likely, but it was even less so that Mary was strong enough to pick him up. He easily dismissed it as a weird memory lapse brought about by tiredness, but there was a small amount of worry that followed him into the kitchen when he started making breakfast.

When Mary finally slinked to the kitchen table, she looked at him strangely before helping herself to the large plate of pancakes. He didn’t say anything until he noticed her stealing looks at him when she thought he wasn’t looking.

“What’s up Mary?” She blinked, snapping out of her weird trance to look down at her plate.

“Are you sick?”

“Huh?” 

“You don’t look so good today. Like, paler than you usually do, and that’s saying something.” She pointed at her own cheek for emphasis. He reached up to feel for a fever, but his skin felt normal, he didn’t feel any different either.

“I don’t feel sick, It’s probably just the weather.” It was true, the apartment felt a bit colder than usual since it was now the very beginning of winter. Rain and snow happened every other day an it was especially cloudy outside the kitchen window. He made a mental note to get groceries and supplies before the next big snow in case the power went out. The winters here tended to knock a few powerlines down with every blizzard. Mary wasn’t bothered as much by it as he was since it meant more snow days.

“Mmmhmm, the news says we're supposed to get a really bad storm tonight.” Jack stilled, coffee mug brought only halfway to his lips. 

“...Yeah?”

“Yeah…” Mary squirmed in her seat a moment before looking back up at him with a pleading look.

“Can you ask someone to drive you back tonight? I don’t want you to walk.” He smiled at her reassuringly, sipping his mug as he decided what to do.

“Don’t worry, I know a few people who can give me a ride back.” He could probably bother North later if he was available, if not then he would probably end up walking back anyway and sneak into the apartment before Mary realized he didn’t carpool. Maybe after he talked to Pitch, North could-

_Oh, right. Pitch._

Jack’s face felt hot when he remembered their previous encounter, even more so when he realized Mary noticed and was now staring him down with a widening smile.

“Jack, is there-”

“Absolutely not.” Her grin grew wider.

“Come on! Who is it? Tell me tell me tell me!” She chanted, smacking her hands on the table for emphasis. He sighed, already exasperated as she practically vibrated in her seat. 

“It’s nobody you know- I mean, There’s nobody!” He practically smacked himself for his flustered reaction. Mary was delighted at his apparent torment and howled with laughter, gripping her stomach as she began to ham it up. 

“I knew it! Who is she? Or he?” 

“It’s… complicated, I shouldn't even be talking to you about this. Don’t you have school?” She rolled her eyes at his blatant attempt at dodging the question.

“I don’t have to go for another few minutes. Please tell me! Just a little bit?” She practically begged him, leaning forward and clasping her hands together with her best innocent expression. He rolled his eyes in response, but knew she wouldn’t let it go till he gave her at least a bit of information. He mulled over what was appropriate to say before he mumbled his response.

“Alright… He’s, well, a patient. Something sudden happened between us the other day and i’m not sure how to feel about it.” Her eyes widened in surprise.

“Is that why you took the day off yesterday? You didn’t want to see him after what happened?”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm…” She looked away a moment, seeming to try to put what he said into some semblance of reason. He took another sip of a now luke-warm coffee.

“Do you like him?”

He nearly choked on the liquid in his throat. She laughed as he started sputtering excuses and denial.

“No! Well, yes. But I shouldn’t- I mean, He’s- I like him as a friend, but-”

“But what?”

“...”

“Well, how about this then; Does he like you?” 

Jack blinked in surprise. He hadn’t really thought about that all that much since they ‘kissed’, mainly focused on his own thoughts and fears about what Pitch was capable of. But now that he thought about it, he wasn’t so sure what to make of the other man's actions. He seemed to enjoy Jack’s company from what he could tell. But he wasn’t human, it was unlikely he could feel things the same way he could. He had never really hurt him, in fact, he healed his lip that day despite how ‘hungry’ he had looked. No, for some reason, Pitch held back from eating him. 

_He didn’t have a problem scaring the shit out of me though._

But did that mean that he ‘liked’ him? The very thought that Pitch was ‘fond’ of him gave him a weird feeling he couldn’t quite place. On one hand, it was a terrifying notion, the man was evil, one of the most evil beings that resided at the hospital. But on the other hand… He realized he didn’t quite mind it as much as he should have.

_There must be something wrong with me. I’ll have to bring that up when we talk tonight, or at the very least try to put a stop to it if it’s true._

He realized Mary was still waiting for a response from him when he broke out of his thoughts to see her looking at him expectantly. He shrugged, turning away from her.

“I don’t know… I think he might? It’s kind of hard to tell. But it’s not appropriate anyway.”

“Why not?”

“Well… he’s not a good person Mary, he’s… He’s done some very, very bad things in the past. We may get along fine now, But what if that changes one day?” She furrowed her brow at that, but didn’t say anything just yet. He continued. “What if he hurts me one day Mary? What if I don’t come home one day because I decided to trust him? What if he hurts somebody because of me?”

“Has he threatened you before or hurt you at all?”

“I mean, not really, but-”

“Has he actually hurt anybody since he’s been in the hospital?”

“Only the first day, but I didn’t know him yet.” 

“Do you want to keep talking to him?”

“...“

“Jack…” She placed a hand over his own, gently squeezing before she spoke. “I can’t really help you with this since I don’t have much context. But from what you’ve told me, it doesn’t seem like he dislikes you like you worry he does. If he hurts you, then just quit. It’s not like he can break out of jail.” _That's to be debated._ “But at the same time, if you really like talking to this guy and he makes you happy during your shifts, then I really don’t see the harm in being friends with him. Just don’t go all ‘Natural Born Killers’ on me.”

“That comparison doesn’t even make sense.”

“Oh shut up, You know what I mean. Just trust your gut feeling, it hasn’t been wrong yet has it?” 

“...” 

Satisfied with her lecture, she thumped him on the shoulder once before she went to get ready for school. Practically unhinging her jaw as she crammed the last pancake into her mouth as she disappeared into her room. He didn’t move from where he was slumped over in his chair, Just staring into his mug until he heard the tell-tale slamming of the door that told him Mary had just left. 

His gut was not a reliable source of advice at the moment. His thoughts were too complicated to come up with a plan yet that he was happy with. Not to mention, What Mary said made a bit of sense in some vague manner. It was true he was asked to basically interrogate Pitch about his victims from North and Bunnymund, but they hadn’t said anything about actually befriending the killer. Even if they did become actual friends, what did that mean for him later on? For them? If They really did like each other, _and that was a very BIG if_ what did that say about Jack? Did falling for Pitch’s charm and promises of friendship make him a bad person? 

_Just what the hell am I supposed to do?_

……………………………………………………………………...

Jack saw Pitch’s head snap up towards him when he walked through the door into his holding cell. He stood smoothly, though quickly, and regarded Jack as he slowly made his way over to the glass. The two men stood awkwardly, neither really sure what to say to break the barrier between them.

“... So… Um, you can teleport.” 

“Excuse me?” 

“Last time I was here, you got out of your, uh, room.” Jack turned away from the other mans bottomless stare. Rubbing a hand through his shock-white hair to try to calm his nerves. Pitch blinked slowly like a cat. His stoic face breaking into a small smile that made Jack feel just the tiniest bit calmer.

“Yes, I can ‘teleport’ in a way.”

“If you can, why haven’t you left yet? I mean, what’s keeping you from continuing from where you left off a few years ago? Why even let yourself be caught at all?” That earned a laugh from Pitch, the strange atmosphere dissolved with the sound almost completely between them, almost. 

“I have my reasons, one of them being the game i’m currently playing with my dear detective.”

“Game?” 

“Nevermind that for now, are you feeling better?”

“What do you mean?” 

“You didn’t come in yesterday, you look a bit pale today as well.” _Do I really look that bad?_

“I’m fine.”

“Good.”

“...”

“...”

Just like that, they were back to square one. Jack, not having sat down, shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot under the creature's intense stare. 

“Pitch?”

“Yes Jack?”

“What… what happened last time I was here? I mean, do you-”

“It was a mistake. I apologize for… frightening you with my behavior.” 

The way Pitch spoke told Jack otherwise, but the fact he was attempting to apologize for it moved the younger man for some reason he couldn’t really explain. His face felt warm again as he sputtered his reply.

“I-It’s fine now, I mean- It wasn’t before. But thank you for apologizing. I mean, I appreciate you fixing my lip too since we're on the subject.” Pitch looked surprised, his eyes dilating to thin points briefly before regaining his calm demeanor. Jack was sure his face was beet red at this point so turned away to hide it.

“You’re welcome Jack. Let’s both agree to never speak of it again.”

“Uh, Sure. Okay.” He felt like smacking himself for how weird he was being. “So, um, how was your day?”

“Same as usual, North came in and asked me about my comfort. Apparently it’s ‘cold’ outside now?” Pitch’s brows furrowed by a fraction as though he was confused. Jack came to a new realization.

“Can you- can you not feel cold?”

“Not the same way humans can. Although it can get uncomfortable if i’m underwater or on fire, I have no concept of freezing or drowning.” His eyes briefly flickered to Jack when he saw the younger man still in his movements. Jack brought his arms up to hold his chest, suddenly coming to a decision he was sure to regret later.

“I- I know the feeling.” Bracing himself, Jack took a deep breath before continuing. “A long time ago, I went night fishing with my dad during the winter. It was pretty fun, I even caught one big enough to bring back home. But then…”

Pitch slightly nodded his head when Jack hesitated, gently urging him to continue. Something in him told him Jack was about to share something very personal.

“I used to sleepwalk when I was younger. At that point I hadn’t done it in a while, so we weren’t really that worried about it. But that night, I wandered quite a ways out onto the lake before my dad realized I was missing.” Another deep breath. “I only woke up when the ice broke under my weight. It felt like I was being stabbed all over because of how frigid the water was. The doctors said if I was a miracle I didn’t die from the shock alone. I… I don’t know how long I was in the water before he could pull me out.” Jack chuckled awkwardly, grabbing a lock of his hair. “But once he did, My hair and eyes were different. The doctors couldn’t explain why they changed color but I had to take a lot of medication to make sure it didn’t mean I would go blind.” 

“But you didn’t.”

“No, I didn’t. They thought my hair would grow back to it’s usual brown after a while but… It never did. I don’t know why...” Jack trailed off, feeling silly for oversharing like this. A quick look at Pitch’s face didn’t give him anything to work off of either to tell what he was thinking. The mans eyes had closed as he told him his story like he was deep in thought.

“Thank you for telling me that Jack.” He spoke softly, like he was trying to keep Jack from startling. The two smiled at each other for a moment, the previous awkwardness now forgotten as they began to discuss their usual topics of music and literature. But Jack couldn’t help but notice that the atmosphere, while much different than it had been before the kiss, seemed to have developed into something new between them. It was easier to laugh and joke around with each other, the banter was a much needed distraction for both of them. But it didn’t distract Jack from noticing how Pitch’s eyes looked at him hungrily whenever he thought he wasn’t looking. 

He found he didn’t mind it.

……………………………………………………………………..

“Sorry Jack, I be having meeting late to being driving you home.”

Mary was right when she said it was going to storm that night. As soon as he was done with cleaning and visiting a strangely quiet Sandy, he was met with the sight of heavy snowfall outside the lobby door. Even Jack knew it was too dangerous to walk so headed to North’s office to hopefully get a ride. But he was the met with the sight of the Doctor being bombarded from both sides with doctors begging him to sign some paperwork regarding the patient that attacked Jack the other day. He sighed, already bracing himself for the talking to Mary would give him when she found out he walked, then he accidentally bumped into someone. Papers scattered everywhere and he quickly bent down to help, the person bent down at the same time and they ended up bumping heads. Jack fell back, hissing in pain when he heard a feminine laugh.

“Oh geez, I’m sorry Jack. I didn’t see ya there.” He looked up in surprise to see Tooth smiling apologetically at him as she rubbed her now red temple. He laughed, rubbing where he was sure was now a similar mark on his forehead and grabbed as many papers as he could.

“Nah, i’m sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“Is something bothering you buddy?” She scooped up the remaining papers and stood, lending him a hand and pulling him to his feet with surprising ease.

“Not really, It just looks like I’ll be walking back tonight.” She stilled, furrowing her brow at him in concern before looking out a nearby window at the storm. 

“You can’t be serious. You’re really going to walk out in that?” 

“Yeah, but it’s not that bad a walk to my-”

“Absolutely not, you’ll freeze out there! How far away is it? I’ll drive you.” She fretted about him like an anxious mother as he tried to talk her out of it.

“No really, it’ll be fine, It’s just-” 

“No, as a fellow employee I can’t just let you walk out in that in good conscience.” The look on her face told him there was no room for argument. He sighed.

“Okay, I’ll only let you drive me if you let me pay for the gas.”

“Deal.” She grinned victoriously before running to grab her coat. He grinned, remembering how his mother used to do the same thing and was hit with a sudden pang of sadness that made tears threaten to well up in his eyes. Blinking, he quickly wiped them away and sent a quick text to Mary telling her he’ll be back soon.

Taking some large stacks of papers from Tooths arms, they made their way out into the storm, quickly disappearing from view of the hospital.


	14. Be Nimble, Be Quick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Here's a new chapter!   
> I hope the wait was worth it! This chapter took quite a while to figure out.  
> Please leave a comment and tell me what you think :)

“Thanks again for the lift. My sister would have thrown a fit if she learned I walked home in this mess.” Jack said when they got into the car. Tooth grinned back before turning on the heater and flooded the car in warmth, Providing them shelter for the raging storm outside. The radio played some generic pop songs that lifted their spirits a bit, they even sang along to a few they knew in exaggerated ways. 

“No problem buddy, Where's your apartment?”

“Oh, it’s down this hill here, just follow the turn of the road.” Jack’s teeth chattered as he fought off the remaining chill in the car. He could feel the cold radiate from the window a few inches from his cheek and huddled closer to the heater. 

They spoke of a few things during the ride, Jack told her more about Mary and she told him about her old job. Outside the car, the blizzard's onslaught slowed the car to a crawl and Tooth squinted over the steering window in her attempts to see the road. It was like a heavy white blanket was draped over the car, the wind whistled all around them and drowned out the radio. It wasn’t long before the car started complaining about pushing through the foot of snow already on the unplowed street. The headlights were the only source of light outside of the car, apparantly the power had already shut off for the town. 

“Wow, this is really terrible isn’t it?” Tooth muttered. “We may have to make an emergency stop somewhere, I think there's a coffee shop on this road.” 

“If we can make it to my apartment, you can stay until this clears out.” Jack offered, knowing it was the least he could do for her. “If we lose power I have a few candles and flashlights we can use too.”

“That’s… Awfully nice of you Jack. But I have to go home tonight, My daughter will be wondering where I am.” 

“Oh, you have a kid?” 

“Yes.” Tooth’s eyes lit up as she spoke. “She’s just the most adorable little girl you’ve ever seen. I call her Baby and my mother usually watches her for me during work. She'd kill me if I didn’t make it home during a blizzard!”

They both laughed at that. 

_That explains a lot._ He thought as he watched the snowflakes batter against the windshield with an old unease he always got around this time of year. He didn’t ever tell anyone, but after the incident as a kid he could never look at snow and ice the same way again. Being practically buried in the stuff wasn’t helping all that much either.

“Uh, Jack?” Tooth’s voice snapped him momentarily out of his thoughts due to her tone.

“Yeah?” 

“The engine just died.” 

It was then that he noticed they had progressed from a slow crawl to a total standstill. They looked at each other for a moment, equally uneasy. 

“...How far away is your apartment?” She asked, voice small with worry. He looked outside the window to get his bearings, squinting in the hopes of seeing any familiar landmarks. 

“Shit, I don't know. I can’t see anything.” He said, his voice as quiet as her own, like if they both spoke loud enough something would break.

“...I’ll try calling the tow trucks. They shouldn’t take that long.” She said, pulling her phone out of her wool sweater and looking distractedly out the window. Not knowing what else to do, Jack fiddled with the radio for a moment before turning to look in the back for anything that could probably help them. 

There wasn’t much back there, just the stack of work papers he helped her with and a few baby toys, as well as a small mound covered by a blanket on the footrest behind Tooth’s chair. He smiled, remembering how cluttered his mom’s car used to be with toys when Mary was born, and pulled back the blanket to give to Tooth. He got most of it out before it seemed to be caught on something so, with as much strength as he could in his awkward position, he pulled until it came loose. Pulling with it what looked like a plastic bag full of dried beans and an assortment of dentist tools.

_The hell? Is this her kids art project or something?_

It was only when he pulled the rest of the blanket out of the way that he realized they were teeth. 

He could also make out a pair of spectacles covered in blood just underneath them.

Jack had never been a fan of roller coasters, the few times he had gone with his family he avoided any rides that dropped straight down. The feeling of his insides rising into his chest and the idea of being at the mercy of gravity and human engineering tended to leave him shaking by the end of the ride. That, and the fear of the flimsy strap holding him in suddenly snapping usually made him break into cold sweats. 

The same sensation of dropping filled his chest again at that moment after the initial confusion of what he was seeing.

“Uh, Tooth? Why do you have-” Whatever he was going to say next died on his tongue at the look on Tooths face. Her eyes bugged wide and her mouth opened as if to say something, but nothing came out as they both simply stared at one another. Distantly, he could hear the guy on the phone ask if everything was alright. The light of the phone screen against her face gave her an inhuman appearance.

Tooth blinked, and her eyes turned cold. Her mouth closed in a tight line before, with one swift motion, she turned the phone off with a loud click of her nails. 

Neither of them moved, let alone breathed. It was like they were frozen in a bubble of calm, a stark contrast to the snowstorm that raged outside.

Jack held his breath.

Then, in one swift motion, he turned and ran from the car into the blizzard, the loud wind cutting into his cheeks and made him just barely able to hear Tooth scream his name from the car.

…………………………………………………………………..

-’BROTHER!’-

Pitch opened his eyes from where he was lounging under the bed when he heard Sandy start screaming in his head. He sighed, rubbing a hand over his angular face before he sent back a response. The onslaught of a brothers thoughts always gave him a bit of a headache.

-’Stop that. Do you want to be eaten?’_

-’Brother, He’s in trouble!’- 

That definitely got his attention, he snapped his head hard enough to break it towards where he felt his brother resided in the building. Scowling at being bothered during his usual feeding time. (Which was usually about an hour after Jack left.) 

-’Who is?’-

-’Jack! He’s running!’- 

Pitch pondered this information. Jack was in danger? Surely he was home by now… He all but smacked himself when he remembered he forgot to attach the shadow to him during their last visit. He reached out to where he believed Jack was, not getting much besides the feelings of movement and distress. 

His brother wasn’t wrong, Jack seemed to be running for his life.

-’He is not in pain. He’ll be fine.’- He eventually thought back in an uncaring tone.

-’No! You have to help him!’- Sandy’s thoughts were urgent sounding enough, but it angered Pitch all the same. He sent his response strong enough to hurt the smaller one.

-’You DARE tell me what to do? Don’t forget you are only alive on a whim of mine!’-

-’Brother please. I cannot leave here. You must.’- The response wavered, evident of the pain Pitch had inflicted, it was enough to calm his momentary fury. Replaced by mild curiosity and a weird underlying feeling he could not place at the thought of Jack in danger.

-’You cannot leave?’-

-’No.’- He sounded sad, almost grief stricken. It made that uneasy feeling grow along his spine.

-’Why should I help Jack?’- He eventually thought. 

-’Because he is my friend.’- A pause. -’...He is yours too.’-

-’...’- He didn’t know what do say to that, instead opting to pace around his cage under the wary stare of his two guards. 

-’If I am to help the little janitor, you must allow me to feed unbothered. No interference.’- 

-’... Okay.’- His reluctance was clear in his tone. But he had agreed, that is all that mattered to Pitch. He smiled wide enough to make the guards blood run cold, and was about to say a very egotistical response when he felt it.

Fear, then agony.

Jack was in intense pain.

His smile dropped, Then, with a roar loud enough to shake the very foundations, the creature in the small tank shed its human skin. Before the guards could even react, they crumpled to the floor like dolls. 

_Ah, I see. This is what concern feels like._

Pitch’s cell was now empty.

Overhead, down a random hallway. North’s heart stopped at the sound of Sandy screaming.

……………………………………………………………………..

Jack’s lungs hurt, both from the exertion and the frigid wind needling the inside of his lungs. 

He had ran into the woods apparently, though he had no idea which way he was going. He had to swerve several times to avoid running face first into trees that would suddenly appear out of the white void around him. He struggled to breathe, his legs felt like rubber, but he continued to run.

Tooth’s voice rang loud behind him. Reverberating through the trees and carried with the wind, making it sound distorted and alien. 

“Jack! Please wait! We can talk about this!”

The curved knife he saw in her hand begged to differ, he ran faster and ignored the complaining of his lungs. Occasionally, he glanced back at her, she was somehow keeping pace with him.

_How the hell's she keeping up in heels?_

“I don’t want to kill you, But you’re making this very hard for me!”

_Stupid, I shouldn’t have said anything about the bag. I should have just pretended I hadn’t seen it-_

“Mary will worry! Isn’t that what you said? Let’s just go back to the car!” 

_I’m so fucking stupid. I should have pushed North harder-_

Jack felt it was ironic, that he had spent so long trying to survive one monster, only to be killed by a different kind altogether. He would have laughed if he had enough air in his lungs.

“You’re making me very angry buddy! I’m trying to be nice!” 

“S-shut up!” He yelled, dodging yet another tree roughly, scrapping his shoulder against it and spinning off kilter for a moment. He was disoriented, lost, he didn’t know how long he had been running for. It was too dark to see.

Eventually, he stumbled upon a large clearing. He ran a couple steps through it before he ended up slipping. He fell heavily, the feeling of something solid and smooth just underneath the snow made him scream in terror when he realized where he was.

Somehow, he had stumbled into the dead center of a frozen lake. 

He couldn’t bring himself to move, he shook so hard he feared that the ice would shatter though the sheer force of it. 

_No no no, Not again, please not again…_

The sounds of fast footsteps behind him made him swing his head around so fast his neck cracked. 

Tooth had found him.

“S-stay back. I-it’s ice-”

“I really liked you Jack. You were a bit weird sure, but you were always so nice to me. I’m really going to regret this you know?” She sighed sadly. Her eyes seemed to brim with tears at her own words, but she brought the knife up all the same. Her silhouette a dark contrast to the white snow all around them. But still, Jack’s fear of what lay below them prevented him from standing up to run.

“T-Tooth, it’s a lake-”

“Don’t worry, I’ll do anything I can to make sure your sisters okay after this. I promise.” With that, She swung the knife down-

Only to hit the empty air where Jack was just laying. His survival instincts had kicked in just in time to make him roll to the side.

He swung his leg, knocking her off her feet before he attempted to crawl away. He didn’t get far before he felt her jump on his back. He rolled, swinging his arm to block the knife as she straddled him. They struggled, their gasps and grunts the only noise in the deadly quiet. 

It was only when she plunged the knife into his chest that he realized the snow stopped.

He Looked up at her with wide eyes before looking down at where the knife handle was sticking out of him. He felt like time had slowed down, the pain had not caught up with him yet.

_Weird, I thought it would hurt._

He looked up again at where Tooth towered over him, the moon just barely peeking out from the clouds above her. 

_Ah, this is familiar._

Their hands had clasped around one anothers as they both held the knife, almost like they were friends. Time started to speed back up. Jack inhaled a shuttering breath and opened his mouth to speak. His micromovements made him feel where the blade had poked his lung.

Then Tooth twisted the handle. The pain started soon after.

He could feel it beginning in waves, something was pulsing out from him in time with his heartbeat. With every beat came a sharper and more intense pain, simultaneously, he felt himself becoming number, colder.

_Oh, I’m dying…_

The thought should have scared him, but it was muted, dampened by something else clawing its way to the surface of his skin. Something that was more insistent than the pain he was feeling. He didn’t scream, instead, He watched as Tooth’s eyes widened in shock.

“What the-”

The second feeling within him made his skin feel like it was too tight in places, the pain was replaced by something he wasn’t expecting, something that would haunt him for the rest of his life. Something that dried his throat and hollowed his stomach into a craving maw.

H U N G E R 

He couldn’t think, couldn't breathe. All he could see was the way Tooth’s face contorted in dawning terror at what she was seeing. The moon had fully emerged from the clouds, illuminating her in a silver halo.

_She killed me..._

_She’s beautiful…_

_Mary's going to cry..._

_Something smells g o o d..._

_Is this what mom and dad felt like?_

_North and Sandy will wonder where I am..._

_Her heartb e a t i s f a s t..._

_Pitch..._

_-’S H E L O O K S D E L I C I O U S’-_

Knife forgotten in his chest, Jack sat up and wrapped his arms around his murderer in an embrace.

Tooth screamed. He held her tighter.

She grabbed the knife handle again, and he plunged his teeth into her throat.


	15. Copper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Sorry this took so long! This chapter was revised so many times it's not even funny!)
> 
> Pitch finds Jack in a rather unfortunate situation and he couldn't be happier.
> 
> Please leave a comment! Those are always my favorite part to read from you guys!

Pitch was very rarely surprised by anything.

More rather, he couldn’t really feel surprise like a human would, beings like him would merely access the new unpredicted information and adapt accordingly. There was a reason he had existed this long after all. Everything he did was carefully thought over and planned, Any possible outcome had already been considered.

That was, at least, before he met Jack. 

Where Pitch tended to plan for everything, the janitor was like a wildcard that acted against what Pitch expected him to. It was refreshing, if not a little concerning. Perhaps it’s what made Pitch drop his guard around the young man to begin with. 

Jack being able to see his shadows should have been an indicator that he was different. 

………………………………………………………………

When Pitch first emerged into the cold winter air, the first thing he noticed was the sharp scent of blood mingled with the freshly fallen snow around him, as well as just how _still_ everything was.

It was a bit of a relief for him to be outside after so long, even though it wasn’t exactly under the best of circumstances. He felt a heavy weight within him at the thought of Jack's distress. He could feel his skin stretching taught at the idea of someone else besides him ending the Janitor before he was done with him.

Looking around, he realized he was at the very edge of a large lake deep in the forest surrounding the institute. Jack was certainly nearby from what he could feel, though the feeling itself was… concerning to say the least. 

He couldn’t feel his pain anymore. Instead, where there was once agony, was a dulling numbness and something else he couldn’t quite identify. 

_I swear, if that little janitor is dead I’m going to kill him…_

He swiveled his head slowly in a full 360 rotation, neck cracking horrifically as he surveyed every possible place Jack could be in the woods around him with sharp golden eyes before he turned his attention to the lake. He remembered the story Jack told of his near death experience and that weight in his gut grew heavier, his eyes scouring the ice for any cracks. _Surely he didn’t meet with an ironic fate?_

The moon, which was previously hidden behind the large clouds overhead, broke through and basked the ice in an otherworldly blue glow. There, in the very center of the lake, was a small form hunched over itself. A look at the pale white hair told him it was Jack, he sighed heavily as his worry finally disappeared and made his way forward over the frozen water (He didn’t have to worry about the ice breaking beneath him). His irritation at being so worried over nothing being redirected into genuine anger at Jack being dumb enough to go out into the woods during a blizzard. He glided quietly behind Jack before stopping in confusion.

_Why is the scent of blood growing stronger?_

“Really Jack, what in the world are you doing out here? If I remember correctly, this type of weather can kill humans right?” Pitch said with a hint of teasing in his tone as he looked down at the still figure below him. His vision had narrowed to fine points as the whole of his attention was busy subtly accessing Jack’s current condition.

Curiously, Jack didn’t so much as flinch at the sound of his voice. 

“What’s wrong? Surprised to see me dear Jack? You didn’t forget that I can ‘teleport’ as you so crudely put it?” He laughed at the term, but quickly sobered when he noted Jack’s eerie stillness. Normally he would have at the very least shot back with his own retort or jumped with surprise.

That was when he noticed the blood.

Then the body of a familiar looking nurse clutched in Jacks arms. 

Pitch tilted his head curiously at the scene. Tooth was limp in the boys arms as if she was asleep, her skin almost as pale as the ice they were standing on. Her expression was almost peaceful, save for the rather nasty bite wounds around her neck and shoulder. Blood had completely drenched the front of her shirt, making his stomach growl hungrily at the sight. But what interested him even more than the fallen prey was the appearance of the one holding her in a morbid embrace. 

_Something is terribly wrong here._

“...Jack?” Pitch spoke after a moment of consideration, bending at the waist to hunch over the white haired boy below him. Reaching out slowly to brush the fresh snow from Jacks white curls. Only stopping when he heard an inhuman growl beneath him. 

Pitch’s eyes widened in surprise when Jack's head snapped sharply up to look at him, giving him a full view of what had happened to him.

The entirety of Jacks mouth just below his nose was covered in blood, which railed down into the front of his equally blue shirt. He snarled up at Pitch, clutching Tooth with hands that ended in small sharp points. Patches of his skin had turned opaque, showing movement of something dark and shapeless moving just underneath the surface. His snow colored hair was wild, flattened on one side with quickly drying blood. 

His eyes were what made Pitch inhale sharply. The usual pale blue of them had been intertwined with inhuman flecks of silver.

_Just like my own..._

“Oh, Jack...” Pitch spoke before he could stop himself with an uncharacteristic softness, he moved slowly to crouch down so that he was at eye level with the thing beneath him. “It seems you will never stop surprising me.” 

The thing, no, ‘Jack’ snarled again over it’s prey before launching himself at him with a hungry sort of desperation. Pitch didn’t fight back, instead allowing Jack to push him onto his back, the sound of his form hitting the ice reverberated through the quiet night air. He didn’t even blink when the smaller monster climbed into his lap and bit hard into the meat of his shoulder with his needle like teeth. Pitch could feel cold radiating off of the smaller ones body like it was made of the very ice that surrounded them. Wisps of white came off Jacks body, the shapes it took looked very similar to Pitch’s shadows.

Pitch had met many of his kind over the countless years he has existed, but never one quite so _fresh_ before. He knew they could be born from humans if certain conditions were met, but this was the first time he had actually witnessed the process. He felt Jacks talons fumble to clutch at his shirt, unsure of their movements like that of a newborn. As well as how his teeth had barely bit into his neck due to their lack of strength. 

_How cute…_

“You poor thing, it’s alright now.”

Reaching up, he gently kneaded the back of Jacks head, pulling him in closer so the bite deepened. He allowed his own blood to flow in the hopes of assuaging this creatures new hunger. It seemed to do the trick, once Jack got a few mouthfuls of blood he seemed to snap out of his fervor. 

Skin deepened color and relaxed into its normal human sags, talons receded into harmless nails and the teeth in Pitches neck dulled to their usual blunt ends. The cold receded, wisps of smoke evaporating. The thing above him sat up, blinked, and was no more. Leaving only a very dazed looking Jack in its place. 

“W-wha..?” Jack’s voice was rough, but once again human. His eyes still retained that silver and blue hue as they blinked slowly in confusion like one would when waking from a deep sleep. The moon illuminated his white hair, stained with both human and nonhuman blood that appeared black in the light. The mere sight stole Pitch’s breath away. 

“Welcome back Jack.”

The smaller man looked down at him like he couldn’t believe he was there. (Which he probably didn’t.) Before he noticed the blood everywhere. Pitch noticed the same time Jack did that there was a knife handle sticking out of his ribs. The janitor's face twisted into a mask of both shock and fear.

“P-Pitch… Tooth tried to- she killed- I was-” Jacks hands started to shake as he brought them up to gingerly touch the handle before immediately pulling them away, as if struck. The tremor of his arms had grown into a full body shiver, fear radiated off of him in tremendous waves that Pitch absorbed greedily, sitting up as Jack backpedaled away from him onto the ice.

He only stopped when he slipped backwards into Tooth due to the frozen blood on the ice.

He made no move yet to aid the younger, knowing that he approached him now it would only upset him further. 

“Jack, It’s okay now. Tell me what happened.” He spoke as gently as his nature would allow, but Jack still flinched at the sound of his voice.

“I- Tooth was driving me home. Then the car got stuck in the snow and I found…” He took a deep but raspy and probably painful breath. The knife must have stabbed his lung. Pitch stared at the handle like it had personally insulted him. “She- She had a bag full of teeth, I think- I think she w-was killing people. I ran but…” He broke into a harsh sob before breaking into a series of rough bloody coughs that had him hunching over. More blood splattered onto the ice beneath him as he heaved. Pitch, in a rare moment of pity, placed his hand gently onto the smaller mans back, rubbing small circles and ignoring how the smaller man flinched.

“S-she killed me! She stabbed me! Then I-” His sobs turned into open crying, heavy tears rolled down his reddened cheeks. “I kill- I killed her. I ate her! W-why did I do that? We were talking like normal an hour ago. W-why did this happen!? Why did I...” 

Pitch let him sob for a few more moments. Looking at the slumped form behind them that had hurt Jack. He felt black anger rise within him at the thought of her trying to kill his Jack. Vision practically growing red as he watched tiny puffs of air leave her ungrateful blue lips.

_If she had hit his heart, she most likely would have succeeded if he hadn’t fought back._

“Jack… Tooth isn’t dead.” 

A very long silence stretched between the two of them for a moment. Pitch watched as Jacks eyes slowly changed from devastated to hopeful.

“... What?” 

“Look.” He said, standing up and gliding over to the nurse. His lip curled in distaste as he looked down at her. “She is still breathing, see?” 

It took Jack a while to realize what he was telling him, eyes wide and uncomprehending before he sprang into action. He all but lunged towards her while unzipping what remained of his jacket and shoving it against the rather impressive bite wounds there to stop the bleeding.

“We need- Pitch go get help! I think my phones in the car, we need an ambulance!” He cried, turning to look pleadingly up at the other, who had made no move yet to do so. 

“What are you waiting for? Please, help her!”

“Why would I do that?” Pitch said calmly, cocking his head to the side. Jack, not expecting that sort of calm response, gaped at him.

“Because she’ll die!”

“She tried to kill you Jack, and if you weren’t like me she would have succeeded. I say let her. A fair trade all things considered. Besides, I don’t owe her anything.”

……………………………………………………

Jack looked from him to the now bloody rags he was pressing for dear life against her neck. As angry as he wanted to be at the other man, he knew he likely didn’t understand since he wasn’t a person.

_But… Neither am I, right..?_

Jack squeezed his eyes shut. No, he couldn’t think about that right now or else he’ll lose his shit. He had to focus on keeping Tooth alive.

 _But why do you want to save her? Pitch is right._ A tiny voice in his head argued. _She would have been responsible for not only your death, but Mary would have been alone._

_No, he couldn’t think that way. He may be… Like Pitch, But he wasn’t ‘like’ Pitch._

_At least, not morally anyway._

He bit back tears at remembering how Tooth said she had a kid, he couldn’t bear the thought of them wondering why their mother never came home. He would rather she go to jail than let her die here.

His thoughts whirled a mile a minute at how he could convince Pitch to help him. Thought back on what could potentially entice the creature in agreeing with his plea. Looking down, he winced when he saw blood seep through the thin fabric. Fighting the urge to gag when he tasted copper on his tongue and knowing it's source.

He was running out of time. 

Desperation makes fools of us all, a dying man will gladly make a deal with the devil to same themselves, they can’t be blamed for panicking in their pain if they are promised a way out.

You can't hate a Faust.

“Fine. if you won’t help her, then help me.” The words left Jack’s mouth before he even realized what he was saying. “If you help me save her life then I’ll be indebted to you.” 

Now THAT got Pitch's interest. He knelt down till his mouth was mere inches from Jacks ear, an almost intimate gesture if not for the predatory glint in his eye. Jack didn’t dare look at him, instead keeping as much focus as he could on pushing the cloth down on her neck. 

“Do you know what you are offering me Jack? Truly?” 

“I-It’s a fair trade right?” Jack stammered, a cold sweat beginning to crawl down his back.

“Oh, not by any means, you are so much more valuable than she is. Especially since you'd be giving yourself to me willingly” Pitch’s voice was low in his ear, breathless with excitement. Jack started shaking even more than he was before. “A life for a life Jack. If I do this for you, that means you’re mine to do with as I see fit. Do you understand?”

It’s a wonder what dying can do to your confidence. Jack turned his head, all but glaring into the monsters eyes for a long moment. He knew this was incredibly stupid of him, to agree to a deal with him. But the sound of Tooth’s weak breaths as she clung to life set his resolve.

“Yes. I understand.” Jack said, surprised at the confidence in his own voice. “Please help her.”

Any bravery he felt in that moment evaporated as soon as he saw Pitch grin wider than he ever had before. With wide eyes, Jack watched as the other man seemed to rip apart before his very eyes into a shapeless black void. He had little warning before both he and Tooth were swarmed in inky blackness.

………………………………………………………….

When he came to, he and Tooth were back in the car. 

He blinked, confused at how he got there. Before he looked down and saw that his clothes, which were torn and covered in blood, were just a pristine and clean as they were when he had worn them earlier that day. He paled when he heard Tooth groan besides him in the car, he could still feel the phantom pain of the blade in his lungs.

“Oh man, I must have fallen asleep! Sorry about that buddy.” She grinned at him, wincing as she rubbed at her neck. “Geez, it’s a good thing we were stopped, or We would have crashed!” She laughed, turning back to the road and gasping in surprise. 

“Hey, look at that! The plow must have come by while I was out! That’s pretty damn convenient.” Jack managed to tear his eyes away from her face and followed her gaze to look at the road. Sure enough, the snow had completely vanished on the road ahead of them. He just stared, disbelieving at both the snow and at Tooth. He paled when he looked at her exposed neck to see a rather large bruise where he had torn her apart with his teeth.

_Holy shit, did Pitch do all this?_

“Y-yeah, They came by while you were out. I didn’t want to wake you since- uh, you seemed pretty tired.” He forced a smile, which she returned before she restarted the car (Which was working again) and headed back on the road. 

She tried talking to him again during the remaining time before they reached his house, but he only smiled tightly, afraid that he’d start crying if he dared speak. She kept rubbing the bruise at her neck, wincing occasionally and joking that she must have slept on it wrong. He could only nod in agreement, trying not to sob when the coppery taste of blood kept returning to his mouth.

Once they neared his apartment, he all but ran from the car, ignoring whatever it was that she yelled after him.

………………………………………..

Once inside, he yelped in surprise when he felt something collide with him and wrap around his waist. 

Looking down, he saw a very upset Mary looking up at him.

“Where have you been? I was worried sick!” She said, hugging him tightly. 

She didn’t seem to expect it when he all but collapsed against her, returning the hug just as tightly.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry Mary…” His voice broke, doing his best not to cry until he could go to his room.

“Hey, you okay? You’re freezing.” She said, voice muffled against his chest. He tasted copper in his mouth again and quickly pulled away from her, feeling sick.

“Y-yeah. I’m fine, the car broke down for a minute, the heat was off.” He lied, pulling away and forcing himself to smile. She didn’t seem to buy it all that much, worry evident in her face.

“You sure you’re okay? You look really pale.”

“Yeah, I’m just tired, I think I’ll skip dinner tonight.” 

She stared at him questioningly, but seemed to decide not to push it too much. 

“Alright, Just let me know if you’re hungry, I can cook something.”

“No way! I know I’m cold but you setting fire to the kitchen won’t help.” He ruffled her hair teasingly, distracting her from her previous concern.

“Hey! That was one time!” She pouted, doing her best to fix her now ruined hair. “I’ve gotten better! I even made toast earlier!”

“Let me guess, well done?”

“...Yes.”

They laughed, previous tension forgotten as she smiled up at him. He smiled back tightly, trying his best to keep the shaking out of his voice.

“I’m gonna head in now, I’ll make pancakes in the a.m.”

“We always have those.” She whined, fighting back a smile before he moved past her towards his room.

“That’s because you keep asking for it.”

……………………………………………….

He closed his door quietly, keeping up his resolve until he heard her retreating footsteps and all but collapsing against the wood of the door.

His shoulders shook violently as he did his best to quiet his sobs. 

_I almost killed somebody tonight._

_What have I done?_

_Murderer._

_I can't stop shaking._

_Why is there still blood in my mouth?_

_My chest hurts so bad..._

_What is Pitch going to do to me?_

He walked quickly towards his tiny bathroom, legs nearly giving out from under him once he reached the sink. He couldn’t stop sobbing, numb fingers reaching out to grab his toothbrush. Once he applied nearly half the tube of toothpaste on the brush, he spent nearly 20 minutes trying his best to get the horrible taste out of his mouth. He was too scared to look into the mirror, terrified of what he might see.

No matter how much he scrubbed, the taste of blood wouldn’t go away. 

He was crying heavily now, unable to get the image of his shirt pressed into her neck as she clung to life. His vision was blurred as he opened the bathroom door towards his bed, already knowing he wouldn’t be able to so much as blink without seeing her pale face behind his eyelids.

Before he could collapse into bed however, he collided with something solid and dark that wrapped itself around him, trapping him in place. 

He knew who it was before he looked up, bleary eyes just barely making out the familiar silvery irises in the dark above him. 

He was alone in his room with The Boogeyman.

He blinked, still shaking violently from earlier, not sure what he should have been feeling when two impossibly warm hands cupped his puffy cheeks.

“Hello Jack.”


End file.
